The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae
by Zyearth Defender
Summary: Charlotte Reed is called upon to locate the missing Queen of England, and drags Jack's crew along with her. Will they find Queen Rachel? Does Charlotte even care? And who is Rebecca Lynn? Sequel to "Serpent's Tail".
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own _The Return of the Serpent's Tail_, NOT _The Curse of the Black Pearl_… Charlotte Reed and Rebecca Lynn (who you will meet soon enough) are mine.  Ha!  So there!! ::nyah:: =-P

Summery: This fic delves deep into Jack's, Char's, Bootstrap's, and Barbosa's past together.  Jack Sparrow at age 15… Eh, heh, heh… Also, for ROTST fans, this DOES explain Char's connection with the Queen. ^_^ 

AN: I'm dedicating this to my little cousin Becky.  That is why Rebecca Lynn is who she is!  I apologize to anyone who has used this name in their POTC fics, I did not intend to take your character from you.

AN2: If you have not read the first story, _The Return of the Serpent's Tail_, then you will be very confused by this fic.  Recommend that you read the above story first.  Neither fic has, nor will ever have, slash.  If Jack gay, then I can't have him!  And if he's bi, then I'd have to share, and I don't like to share… ^_^  Ok, I've talked enough…

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter One

"There he goes!  After him!"  Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl ran down the street at full speed with no less than ten British soldiers behind him.

"What a lovely start to my day!" Jack thought aloud as he ducked into an alley.  He looked at all the buildings down the street for a way to escape, and suddenly a smile came over him.  "Just in time for breakfast!" he said quietly as he made his way to a familiar blacksmiths' shop.

Will was just walking the shop from the other entrance.  It had been nearly three weeks since the attack on Port Royal, and everything had been going smoothly since then.  Queen Rachel had sent word to the port apologizing for the attack.  She also let them keep the ships as payment for the damage Devon did.  Now Will was in the process of training a new apprentice to take his place.  His master was fairly upset when Will announced his plans to marry, and even more upset when Will disappeared after promising to train someone new.  Now Will was finally able to calm down and train the young boy to take his place.

Or so he thought.

Will wandered around the shop putting various things back in place.  The boy he was training still needed some work on clean up.  He turned to put one of the hammers back on the table anvil, when he noticed a familiar hat.  Will at first raised an eyebrow, but then he heard shouting out front and he sighed.

"Jack Sparrow, can't I be rid of you for more than three weeks?" he said aloud to no one.  

"Gimme back me hat," Jack said, plopping down behind Will.  Will turned around and Jack snatched his hat back.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" Will questioned.

"Well, I was just here to visit you and for a quick cup of tea and--"  

"What are you really doing here, Jack?" Will said, catching Jack's lie.  "I know you better than that."

Jack looked at Will's face, and knew there was no deceiving him.  "Fine, I wasn't here to visit you, I was here to visit the bar.  We're on our way to Tortuga, and I needed a break."

"And now the army is after you?"

"I didn' do anythin'!" Jack protested.  "I was just sitting in the bar and they came runnin' in and claimin' that I stole somethin' from the Governor.  I hadn' gone anywhere beside the bar."

Will eyed him suspiciously.  "Will, I'm not lyin' to you this time," Jack said truthfully.  "I had nothin' to do with the stealin', nor did any of my men… or women."  Will looked closely at him, and decided he was telling the truth.

"So why don't you tell the soldiers that?"

"Just because Norrington puts up with me, doesn't mean he likes me," Jack explained.  "They wouldn' listen to me."

"Good point…" Will said.  "I expect you want me to get you out of here safe?"

There was a banging on the door.  "Please…?"  Jack said with a pleading grin.

"Open the door!  The Queen's army demands it!" 

Will sighed and pointed to the rafters above him.  Jack gave him a silent thanks and climbed the rafters.

Shaking his head, Will went and opened the door.  In came four soldiers and Norrington's replacement lieutenant for Devon, Hyson.  He had been trying especially hard to live up to standards, hoping to make up for Devon's mistakes. 

"Where's Sparrow?" he demanded, acting more threatening than he sounded.

"Jack Sparrow?" Will said innocently.  "I haven't seen him since the incident with Devon."  He said this with false bitterness.  "Save a man's life, and what do you get?"

Hyson eyed Will suspiciously, but couldn't see past his lie.  "Alright, Will," he began.  "If you say you haven't seen him, I'll be on my way."  He motioned to the soldiers and everyone left.  Once they were gone and the door was shut, Will motioned to Jack.

"They're gone, Jack," Will said.  

"Oh, good," Jack said, and he promptly fell out of the rafters.

"Just come on," Will said.  "Someday I'm going to run out of patience for you."

"And I hope that day is very far away," Jack said, and the two ran out the back way.

They ran down several alleys, and ducked into the bread shop.  It was closed that day, and the owner was dead asleep.  "Must be one of the blacksmith's buddies," Jack muttered.  The smell of alcohol was noticeable from far away.  A few minutes later, they were near the docks.

"If we can get to that boat there, we can get away with your underwater trick," Will told Jack.

"Goody," Jack said.  They still had one more building to go around, and Jack pointed to it.  "You go first.  I don' want any navy personnel waitin' for me."

Will nodded and rounded the corner.  He saw a flight of stairs and an old cellar, but no people.  He nodded to Jack and turned to run down the side of the building.

He didn't get very far.

"Ow!"  Will collided with another person, and both of them hit the floor.  Will was the first one up.

"I'm very sorry," he said, and found he had run into a woman, about 20.  She was wearing an outfit similar to Charlotte Reed's, an old friend of his, with a white shirt, brown boots and a red bandana.  Will noticed that she had a few beads in her hair as well, and a sword.  She seemed awfully familiar, but he couldn't think of why, so he ignored the feeling.  He looked down instead and saw that he had knocked a parcel and a hat out of her reach.  "Please forgive me, I wasn't watching where I was going."  He handed back the things to the woman.

"Ye should watch where I'm runnin'," she said, and snapped back her stuff.  "That was very rude."  She placed her hat back on her head.

"I said I was--"  SMACK.  Jack had rounded the corner at full speed and both men ended up on the ground.

"Will!" Jack shouted angrily.  "Ye should be watchin' where I'm runnin'!"  He hurried Will to his feet.  "Come now, we have no time to lose!  They're comin' this way."  As he tried to push Will forward, Will suddenly made the connection with the girl.  

"B-but, Jack--"

"No buts, lad, we've got to get to that cellar!"  He pushed Will along, but paused when he saw the girl.  They looked at each other for a moment.

"Nice hat," they said together, and they ran off in opposite directions.

"Jack, just how many…e-er how much 'pleasurable company' had you been with about 20 years ago?" Will asked once they had been in the cellar about ten minutes

"Be quiet, Will!" Jack pleaded.  "Do ye want to get us--"  The cellar door opened and standing over them was Norrington himself, and ten soldiers.  "--caught?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But Elizabeth, I really think Jack is telling the truth!"  Will and Elizabeth were sitting in the hall of the Governor, and waiting.  Norrington insisted on personally questioning Jack, and he and Governor Swann were doing just that.  Will could do nothing more.

"When has Jack ever told the truth?" Elizabeth asked.  Will thought for a moment, but couldn't seem to come up with an answer.  "That's what I thought.  Will, he may be a good man, but he is still a pirate."

"But after all we've been through, do you really think he would steal from this house?"

"Pirate!" Elizabeth said again.  She pointed to the room with Jack in it, and sounded very much like Jack a few months back when he had said the same thing to Will.

"Elizabeth, when he was here before, your father offered to let him take any piece of treasure he wanted," Will pointed out.  "He could've taken whatever he wanted then!"

Elizabeth thought about this.  "Well…" she began.  "Perhaps your right…"

Suddenly Norrington burst through the doors, Jack and the Governor following.

"Where did you hide it?!" Norrington demanded.  

"I didn' hide anythin'," Jack said behind him.  "I tell ye, I didn' take what your missin'!"

"Will, please.  If Sparrow is hiding anything, tell me where it is," Norrington said.

"I don't think he took anything," Will said.  "He didn't have anything when I saw him, and he had asked me to take him straight to the docks, no detours.  I just don't think he's the culprit."

Norrington thought a moment.  "Are you quite sure?"

"Commodore, a few weeks ago, Jack was given an offer to take anything he wanted from this household," Elizabeth said.  "He didn't take anything then, so why should he take something now?"

"I guess… your right," Norrington said slowly.  Jack beamed at Elizabeth secretly, and she smiled a little smile back.  Norrington shook his head.  "But until the culprit is found, Jack," he turned to Jack, and the smile left the pirate.  "I'm going to have to keep you in custody."  Jack sighed and held out his hands to be led away.  They made their way outside, and rounded the bend of the Governor's lane.

"Honestly, Jack, can't I leave you alone for an hour without you gettin' in trouble?"  Everyone looked up, and there stood Charlotte Reed, sword drawn, blocking the path ahead of them.

"Charlotte, please, I don't have time for this," Norrington said.  "Move out of the way."

"Sorry, Commodore," Char said.  "I like you, but that doesn't mean I'll let you git away with takin' ol' Jack off to jail.  And it's Char, Norrington."

Norrington reluctantly drew his sword.  Jack laughed.

"Son, this woman has beat Will, your bloody Devon, and yours truly without breakin' a sweat," Jack said.  "There ain't no way you can possibly beat her in battle."

"We'll see about that," and they would have, if Hyson and a group of soldiers dragging a woman along hadn't come up.

"Commodore!" Hyson shouted.  "We've found the true culprit!  Jack isn't the man!"  The soldiers brought the woman forward, and she found herself in a circle of people, including, Will, Elizabeth, Char and Jack.  She clutched the package she had with her even tighter.

"This is mine!" she shouted angrily.  "Leave me alone!"  She looked around at all the faces before her, until she laid eyes on Jack.  The two stared at each other.

_She looks familiar…_ Jack thought.

"Miss, we don't want to hurt you," Norrington said softly.  Even Char had to admit than the tone of voice he took was very soothing.  "If you just give back what you stole, I'll let you go free."

"You can' have it!" the girl said loudly.  "I need it!!"

"Please, miss, I just want to know what you stole," Norrington continued.

"It's mine…" the girl said, turning away from Norrington.  She was weakening, and the Commodore knew it.  Just a bit further…

Char was too impatient.

"Look, lassie, I don' know who you are, but--"

"Rebecca Lynn…" the girl said.  She met Char's eyes.  Charlotte looked into Rebecca's eyes, and instantly she made the connection as to why she looked so familiar, just as Will did.  Rebecca looked at the Commodore.  He smiled gently at her.  She continued.  "My name is Rebecca Lynn.  I… I'm looking for someone… so I… stole these records of Port Royal…"  She opened the bag, and sure enough, it was full of parchments and documents.  Commodore Norrington reached down into the bag, and found that there was only paper in it.

"If that's all you wanted, you could have come and seen them without stealing them," Norrington said.  

"Yes, but the person I'm looking for… my father… my mother, she said… he was a pirate…"  Will opened his mouth to say something, but Char stopped him.  

"Hold yer tongue, lad," Char said quietly.  "It wouldn' be good for the whole world ta know what we know."  Will nodded, and kept quiet.

Norrington raised an eyebrow.  "Well, that really doesn't--"

"Commodore!" shouted a voice coming up the hill.  "Commodore Norrington, I have an urgent message for you concerning the Queen!  Please hear me!"  Everyone turned, and running up the lane was Isaac, the Queen's top Lieutenant guard, and he looked frantic.  "I must find Charlotte Reed…"

"This _is_ a lovely start to my day," Jack muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Hearts and flowers, I own none of this!  If it were mine, I'd know better than to swear on hearts and flowers.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Two

Charlotte Reed was the happiest little girl anyone could have known.  Though she was an orphan since birth, and she lived her entire life in servitude in the King's palace, you would have never known her difficulties.  

The King was a kind and loving man, and, although Charlotte was a servant, the King treated her like a daughter.  She was Princess Rachel's youngest lady-in-waiting, and her best friend.  They shared everything, from deep dark secrets (or what they thought were deep dark secrets.  They were only 10 after all.), to clothing, and even crushes on the older boys that worked in the palace.  The King was more than happy to have his daughter with someone she cared about.

The top Lieutenant Guard, James, did not approve.  He kept this to himself, however, because his only real job was manipulating the King.  After months of persistent nudging, he finally got the King to believe that one of the neighboring countries was plotting war against England.  So the King declared war on it, and a fierce war began. 

Everyday, the King would go to the front lines, and everyday, he would return.  This went on for month's and both Charlotte and Rachel were getting anxious.  One day at battle, the King realized he had been played by James.  He stormed back to the tent that had James in it, meaning to end the traitor's life.  But James knew he was coming.  The King did not return that day.

Though Princess Rachel was only 10, she was coroneted as queen, with James as her advisor.  The war ended within a few days, because James had accomplished what he set out to do.

All servants loyal to the King or the new Queen were promptly fired, including Charlotte.  James wanted her out the most.  He forced a horrid smelling and even worse tasting black liquid down her throat, and the next thing Charlotte knew, she was on the bottom deck of a slave ship, with no recollection of her previous life at the palace.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The cat sez "Not Herz!" then falls off the computer.  Ow…

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Three

"So what is this urgent message from the Queen?" Norrington asked Isaac.

The entire group was sitting in the Governor's living room.  Charlotte, Jack, and even their new friend Rebecca had joined them, and they were anxious to hear what Isaac had to say.

"It… it isn't a message _from_ the Queen," he said slowly.  "It's a message _for_ the Queen… She's missing…"

To Norrington and the Governor, this was appalling news.  Jack and Charlotte could care less.

"What happened?!" Norrington said.  "This is grave news!"

"Indeed," Isaac said.  "And now I must speak with Miss Charlotte Reed."

"And why, pray, must ye be speakin' with me?" Char asked suspiciously.  "I didn' take yer bloody Queen.  Goes against the code."

"I know you didn't take the Queen," Isaac said.  "I think Devon might have had something to do with it."

"Not surprising," Jack put in.

"Yes, yes, but that doesn't explain why you want to talk to me."

"Well…" Isaac began.  "You did know the Queen when you were younger…"

"Lookit, here, lad," Char said.  "I didn' know yer Queen, alright?  The only life I have ever known is the life of a pirate, an' that's it."

"Are you quite certain?" Isaac said.  Char thought a moment, but couldn't come up with an answer.  "You don't know your past, Charlotte.  You were the queen's lady-in-waiting, and her best friend when she was only a princess."

"Your lying," Char accused, but felt he was telling the truth.

"You don't really believe that," Isaac said.  "Somehow, I just know you don't believe that."

Char sighed.  "So, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to come to the palace, and look at the Queen's room.  There was some odd writing on the wall, and you may know what it means."

"Oh, come on--" Jack began, but was cut off.

"Did it look like this?"  Charlotte ignored Jack and held out a piece of paper with some kind of cryptic code on it.  The paper was old and torn up.

Isaac took the paper and looked it over.  "Yes… that's exactly what it looked like…"  Isaac looked closely at Char.  "So you'll come?"

Char looked at Jack.  Jack looked a little annoyed at first, but then he smiled and nodded.  

"Yes, I'll come."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Baby ain't no lie, this ain't mine mine mine… (neither is N*Sync)

AN: Who here still dresses up for Halloween?  Ooh, Ooh, I do!  ::raises hand::  I'm gonna be Charlotte Reed… Ok, I know this is a long ways away, but I just got the perfect shirt for it, and I'm hyped.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Four

Charlotte ran down the streets of the port town Adria.  She didn't know why she was ever on that slave ship, but she did know she didn't want to be on it.  So she had attacked one of the guards, and stolen their clothes.   Now she was running for her life from several of the other guards.

Thankfully no one tried to stop her as she tore down the road, though most people looked up to see her running.  She darted this way and that, but couldn't seem to shake the guards.

"After that slave!" shouted the head guard.  A few Port Adria navy soldiers saw her running down the road, and gave chase.  It all seemed hopeless for Charlotte.  

She turned down one road thinking about how she could get away.  She was thinking of giving up, when suddenly a large hand sprang out from an alley and covered her mouth.  The hand pulled her to the ground and behind a barrel.  Charlotte was terrified, but she couldn't scream because the man's hand prevented that.  She looked up at her capturer who seemed to take more intrest in the alley that led to the road than in her.  Charlotte decided he looked to be about 15, and he was a roguish man.  He wore a red scarf on his head, and had a few beads in his hair.

Her thoughts suddenly turned from him, when her hunters ran down the road.  Two stopped directly in front of her barrel, and Charlotte held her breath.

"Did you see where the slave went?" one asked.

"No," replied the other.  "I don't see why it matters.  It was one stupid slave that wouldn't bring much of a price."

"I know, and you know," said the first.  "But boss's orders.  We better find it."  They ran off in different directions, and when all was quiet, the man let Charlotte go.

"T-thank you…" Charlotte said, tired.  

"No problem," said the boy, grinning.  "Ye must have done somethin' horrible for them ta keep lookin' for you."

"All I did was attack a guard, take his clothing, and run away," Charlotte said.  "I don't think that's so bad." 

The boy laughed.  "Knocked out a guard, eh?" he said.  "I like you.  Tell you what.  I'll let ye be a part of me crew.  You don' have anywhere else to go, do ye?"

"No…" Charlotte began, not sure if she wanted to be a part of the boy's crew.  "But…"

"If you follow me, I have a hot lunch waitin' for us," said the boy.  Charlotte didn't need to be told anything else.

"Ok, I'll join you," she said.  "My name is Reed, Char--"

"Nice ta meet ya, Reed," said the boy, stopping Charlotte from telling him her full name.  "Never met a lad with the name Reed before.  I'd tell ya my name, but we needa be in a safer place first."

"But I'm not--" Charlotte began, trying to say she wasn't a boy.  But her new friend shushed her.

"Come on, let's just go," said the boy, and he led her onto the road.  "We've got to get goin' before we get--"

"There's the slave!" shouted someone.  "And Jack Sparrow's with it!"

"--caught."

One of the navy soldiers came up.  "Jack Sparrow, is it?" he said.  "We'll get him, and the slave, and kill two birds with one stone!"

"I don' think you'll be killin' anyone, mates," Jack said, slowly backing Charlotte into the alley.  He drew his sword.  "Can' kill what ye can' catch!"  In a quick moment, he shoved Charlotte into the alley, and ran in himself.  They ran down until they came to a dead end.

"Bother!" Charlotte thought, but Jack knew this alley well.  In the corner between two buildings, was a thick rope, and Jack began climbing it easily.  

"Just follow me, Reed," Jack said.  "An' no harm'll come to you."  She followed Jack up the rope, and the two got to the roof, just as the guards made it to the back of the alley.

" 'Ello, gents," Jack called from above.  "This is the day you'll always remember as the day you almost caught Jack Sparrow!"  He laughed, until the guards decided they could climb the rope as well.

"You don' want to be doin' that, chums," Jack said, but the guards ignored him.  Jack only sighed, and took his sword out higher.  "I tried to warn ye," he said, and with one swoop, he cut the rope down, making a large pile of angry soldiers.

Charlotte couldn't believe her eyes.  Jack smiled and stood up on the roof.  "Well, Reed, what'd ya think of that?"

"Impressive," Charlotte admitted.  Suddenly a bullet came sailing through the air, and cut a big hole in Jack's jacket.  Jack looked down, then whipped his head back, just in time to miss another bullet.  "That's bad, isn't it," Char said.

"Not really," Jack said.  "Only if you don' know how to jump."  Charlotte looked at him confused, until he ran down to the other side of the building and leaped across it.  "Come on now, lad, we haven't got all day."

"You want me to jump that?!"

"It's not that hard," Jack assured her.  "Just go for it!"

Charlotte bit her lip.  She ran as hard as she could, leaped off, and closed her eyes.  To her surprise, she made it easily.

"There, now was that so hard?" Jack asked.

Charlotte would have liked to say yes, but decided not to.  Jack just smiled, and the two of them jumped from building to building.  The army was hot on their trail.  Bullets whizzed past them from every direction, and the guards were shouting from below.

"Give back that slave, Sparrow!" someone called.

"Nah, I've 'come quite attached to 'im," Jack answered.  "I think I'll keep it."  He winked at the guard, then ducked away from the bullet aimed at him.  

Meanwhile, Charlotte had stopped running.  When Jack noticed it, he stopped too, because he saw what Charlotte saw.  Four soldiers had found their way to the roof ahead of them.  They turned around and saw three more soldiers on the other side.

"Ok, now that's bad, isn't it," Charlotte said.

Jack paused a moment.  Then he looked ahead of him, and an evil grin came over his face. He backed up with Char to the side of the building that didn't have soldiers in the alley below.

The soldiers closed in around him fast.  "Alright, Sparrow," said the man in charge.  "Give us the slave, and you'll have a rather painless death."

"Alright, ye beat me," Jack said.  Charlotte was surprised by this sudden surrender when Jack firmly grasped her hand behind him.  "Don' let go whatever you do," he whispered to her.  She squeezed his hand gently to let him know she understood.  "But I won' be goin' with you," he continued to the guards.  "Not my style."  He began to back slowly to the edge of the building, and the soldiers began to close in around them.  "I shall take me own li--"  Instead of jumping over the edge like he wanted to, Jack tripped, and Charlotte suddenly found herself falling through the air.  She stiffed a scream, knowing she was probably going to die anyway.

But she didn't ever hit the ground.  When she opened her eyes again, she saw they were flying through the air.  Jack had grabbed a hold of a clothing line and was sliding down it, all the clothes on it sliding down with him.  They landed, and Jack picked up all the clothes on the floor hastily.

"That alley," he said to Charlotte, pointing to an alley off to the side.  "There's a bit of rope.  Climb it, hurry!"  They ran down the alley, and climbed the rope.  Jack had a bit harder of a time because of the clothes, but managed to get up before the soldiers caught up with them.

When Charlotte got up, she found herself face to face with another boy, that seemed to be about 17.  He eyed her cautiously.  "An' who might you be?" he asked.

"He's with me, Barbosa," Jack said, pulling the rope out of sight of the guards.  "We need a distraction in the west alley."

"Comin' right up," said Barbosa, and he picked up a small brick, and threw it out the window of the small apartment-sized hideout.  The guards, who had almost gone down the same alley Charlotte and Jack had, turned suddenly and ran to west alley.

After a few minutes of quiet, Jack sighed.  "That was a bit too close," he said.  He smiled at his new companion.  Charlotte smiled back.

"Thank you, I owe you my life," she said.

"Don' mention it," Jack said.  He turned to Barbosa, who was looking strangely at Charlotte.  "This 'ere's Reed," Jack informed him.  "He's a runaway slave.  Figured he'd be good in the crew."

"Not in those clothes he ain't," Barbosa said, pointing to the navy attire Charlotte was wearing.

"That's why I took a little detour," Jack said.  He turned to Charlotte and pointed to a curtain.  "Get behind the curtain, an' I'll be givin' ye yer new outfit."  Charlotte nodded, thankful that there was a curtain.  She decided to keep her gender a secret, and that would've been hard if she had to dress out in the open.

After sorting through the garments, Jack finally decided on a white shirt, a brown pair of pants, a brown vest, and a blue bandana, to contradict her bright red hair.  He also gave Charlotte a pair of worn, but good boots, and a big belt.  She came out from the curtain showing off her new costume.

"Ye did it again, Jack," Barbosa said, obviously approving of the choices made.  "He definitely looks like a pirate."  He looked closer.  "Somethin's missin' though…"

Jack looked too.  "Yer right, Barbosa.  How could I forget!"  He went over to a pile of various items, and pulled out a sword, knife, and gun.  He put the swords belt scabbard around Charlotte, and gave her the sheathed knife and gun.  She put them in her belt comfortably.  Jack looked again, but something still wasn't right.

"Hmm… Aha!  I've got it."  He pulled out his own knife, cut a strand of beads out of his hair, and unthreaded them.  He handed the unbeaded hair to Charlotte.  "Hold on to this for me, will ya?" he asked.  Charlotte nodded and put the piece of hair in her pocket.  Then, very carefully, he put the beads in Charlotte's hair.  Finally he stepped back to admire his work.  He smiled.

So did Barbosa.  "Perfect, Jack," he said.  "Guess we got a new member in our crew then."

"Guess so," Jack said.  Charlotte beamed.  

"I think I like this," she said.  Jack laughed.  

"Well, I'm gonna guess ye don' know how to work that sword there," he said.  "But we'll mess with that later.  Right now let's have some of that lunch I was mentionin'.  Then on to sword play!  Who knows, maybe someday ye can beat ol' Barbosa here!"  Charlotte smiled again, happy to have a new home, and they all sat down for some food.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: People poke their heads into my window and say "DISCLAIM OR ELSE!" and I die, and come back and disclaim.  So… I disclaim to own this. ::dies, comes back::  Oops, wrong order…

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Five

"So now we have to get this entire group to England," Jack said, throwing up his hands.  "Just what I need, another land-lubber!" 

Apparently, though he had come over by ship, Isaac knew nothing about the ocean.  He walked cautiously onto Bill's ship, the Moon Shadow, and nearly tripped on nothing at all.  

"He'll be dead weight, that's for sure," Bill whispered to Jack.  "I 'ope we don' run into any storms on our way to London.  He won' be any 'elp at all."

"Just deal with it," Char said.  "We won' have 'im for long.  I'm just worried about Miss 'Records' over there.  She don' look like a sea-bearin' lass."

Jack looked over at Rebecca, who looked at the six pirate ships in disgust.  She had decided to come with the group, because Jack said he knew every pirate there was, and might be able to help her.  She didn't have anything better to do, so she tagged along.  Already, though, she was not getting along with the rest of the crews.  She mumbled something to herself, and marched up to Jack.

Jack eyed her carefully.  "What's the matter, lass?  Land-lubber yerself, eh?"

She sneered.  "Be careful what ye say, Captain Jack," she said.  "I might just have to knock some sense into ye with this sword of mine."  Quick as a wink she drew her sword, meaning to scare Jack a bit.  But before she could do much more, Char's sword was drawn, and Rebecca's sword was hooked.  Before she knew what happened, Char had both swords, and they both were aimed at Rebecca's neck.

"Never, EVER threaten a friend of Charlotte Reed's with blades, missy," Char said.  "Few men can beat me, and even fewer women.  Yer life ain't worth a thing to me, remember that." She flipped Rebecca's sword around, and handed her the hilt.  Rebecca could only stare.

"I-I didn' mean no harm…" she told Char.  "I only meant to put a scare in him."

Jack laughed.  "Lassie, I've seen far too many things in this world for that to scare me," he said.  "Things a lady like yerself couldn' even handle."  Rebecca sneered again.  "Now," Jack continued.  "What is it that you want?"

"I want to captain my own ship for this journey."

Jack looked at her stupidly, but Bill laughed so hard, he nearly fell off the boat.  "Captain yer own ship?!" he said between  laughs.  "That's a laugh and a half!  All these ships have captains."

"I don' have ta--" she started, but was cut off.

Jack finally broke out of shock.  "Listen, love," he began.  "Ye see that little man, with the young lady?"  He pointed to Gibbs and Anna Maria.

"Y-yes, but--"

"Well, that's Gibbs, Captain of the Typhoon, and Anna Maria, Captain of the Hard Wind."

"Ok, but--"

"And that," Char began, taking over and pointing to Matthew.  "Is Matthew Rye, Captain of the Star Crest.  And ol' Bill Turner here is Captain of the Moon Shadow, this ship."

"That's all fine, but--"

"No more buts," Jack said.  "They all have captains."

"But I have a ship already!" Rebecca blurted out.  Char, Jack, and Bill all looked at her.  She seemed pretty mad, not liking that it took a shout to get their attention.

"Your… own ship?" Jack asked, disbelieving.  

"Yes, my own ship," Rebecca said.  "It's called the Silver Sun, and I am not leaving it in Port Royal to be stranded."

Char laughed.  "So pirates aren't the only ones who have female captains," she said.  "Good to hear."

"Who said I wasn't a pirate?" Rebecca said angrily.

"Missy, do you consider yourself a pirate?" Bill asked.

"Of course," Rebecca answered, and the others burst into laughter.  "What's so funny?" 

"First, the 'Silver Sun' is no name for a pirate ship," Char said, trying to stop laughing.  "Maybe for a merchant's ship, or even one of the bloody Spanish Main ships, but not pirate.  For two, if ye was a pirate, ye would've reacted fast enough to stop me from takin' yer sword earlier.  Even Jack knows that trick.  And thirdly--"

"Ok, enough!" Rebecca shouted.  "So I need some practice, big deal."

"It is a big deal, love," Jack said.  "Not every pirate you meet in the seas is as nice as us.  If you go tellin' other pirates, yer a pirate without experience, then your fair game.  They won' hesitate to kill ye for yer ship."  Rebecca looked appalled.  "That's what I thought," Jack continued.  "Lass, stick with us for a bit, and we'll see if we can' teach ye to be a proper pirate."

"Does that mean I can take me own ship?" she asked.  

Bill thought a moment.  "If you take your own ship, then you have to take him with you," Bill said, and pointed to none other than Isaac, who was already looking sea sick.

Rebecca cringed.  "Fine…" she said.  Char laughed. 

"Then I'll take the Commodore on board me ship, and Will and Elizabeth can go on the Black Pearl, since they've been on it before," she said.  "This is gonna be some trip."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own Pirates of the Caribbean like the Angels are a good team… OK, I love the Angels, but they suck… 'cept for last year, you know, when hell froze over.  Go Tim Salmon!

AN: Ok, "Me", for one, Charlotte is not named after me, my name is after her, (it's not my real name, duh).  She is NOT a Mary-sue, and neither are any of my other characters.  Don't go accusing without proof, ok?  Perhaps you didn't read _The Return of the Serpent's Tail_.  If you had, then you would see that Charlotte is not a Mary-sue.  Also, I've been writing a LONG time, so don't be telling me about the "rules of writing".  I know how to write, and I don't need anybody to tell me how, I'm a big girl.

Another thing, if you must continue to flame my story with no kind words to speak of, email me, so I can express my disapproval to you face, instead of where the world can see it. If you don't want to email me, then keep your dumb opinions to yourself.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Six

It had been nearly 5 years since Charlotte had joined Jack and Barbosa in that little port town in England.  A lot had happened in that time.  Jack and Barbosa grew to be young men, and Charlotte even thought that Jack had become quite handsome, (though she couldn't express her feelings of course, because they still thought she was a guy).  Charlotte had become quite skilled with the sword, and could now beat both Barbosa and Jack easily.  The three had gained names as fierce pirates in that town, and their names had even carried to other towns.

But this new fame wasn't nearly as good as one might think.  It made it nearly impossible to get anything done.  Their jobs had to be done at night, and they were always dangerous.

One morning after they had pillaged a merchant ship from Tortuga, Charlotte brought up this topic.

"Jack, do ye consider us proper pirates?" she asked.  Jack nearly fell over from shock.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked angrily. 

"Well," Charlotte began.  "We don' have a ship, or a crew, and all our jobs are done in the same town.  It's gettin' too dangerous to do anythin' anymore."

"The boy's right, Jack," Barbosa said.  "We don' really have the things pirates should have.  And this town is out for our blood."

"An' what do you suppose we do about it?" Jack asked crossly.  "We don' know any other town like this one, and we certainly don' know any other pirates.  We're stuck."

"Not necessarily," Charlotte pointed out.  "You know where tha' ship came from tha' we just stole from?"

"Tortuga," Jack replied a-matter-of-factly.  "So?"

"So, I read in the paper that that town is a real pirates cache, a den of thieves" Char said, being of course the only one of them who could read.  "If we 'hitch a ride' on that ship, we'd find ourselves there.  I'm sure we could find someone who'll take us a board."

Barbosa nodded.  "I think I like this idea," he told Jack.  "What 'ave we got to lose?"

Jack thought for a moment, then a big grin came over his face.  "Y'know, Reed, you're right.  I like this idea, too.  We'll stow away tonight."  With that he got up and started giving orders on what to do to prepare.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three stowaways looked about them after a grueling trip from England at the town of Tortuga.  It was a rowdy place, and if Charlotte had found herself there on the slave ship five years ago, she would have been terrified.  But now she had Jack and Barbosa, and her sword as well.  Nothing could hurt her.

They wandered around a bit, but no one took notice of them.  When in got dark, they found themselves at the inn of Dragon's Breath, and took lodging there. 

"Well, gents, we're here!" Jack said grinning as he handed his friends a pint each.  "If all goes according to plan, we'll be on a ship in no time!"

No time was an overstatement.  They went to every ship and every inn in that town for three weeks, and nothing turned up.

"This is ridiculous," Barbosa said.  "We should never have come here.  Our savin's are almost gone, and it will be near impossible to take any of someone else's cash."

"Sorry, Jack," Charlotte apologized.  "Looks like I just got us stranded…"

"Nonsense!" Jack said determined.  "We're pirates, an' we'll be on a crew by the end of this week!  I'll die before I leave here!"

"That could be arranged," said a voice.  Everyone looked up to see the face of a very angry, very big, very drunk man.  Jack recognized him immediately.  

"Hey, John, what's going on…?" Jack said sheepishly.  Several people looked up, including a young man about in his twenties.  He seemed particularly interested.

"Giselle tells me that you've been causin' her problems, Sparrow," John informed them.  He cracked his knuckles and drew out his sword.  "I don' want any more problems for her, so I'm puttin' an end to it." 

"Wonderful!" Jack said, standing up.  The others followed his example, their hands at their swords.  "I promise from this day forward, I shall cause no problems for Miss Giselle…"

"That ain't good enough, pirate," John said.  "I'm 'ere to ring your dirty little neck!"  In one swift swoop, he lunged at Jack with a sword, but the sword never got close to Jack, because Charlotte hooked it and flung it away in the blink of an eye.

"Oops, was that me?" Charlotte said mockingly.  "How clumsy of me."

"You bloody pirates!"  John reached for them again, but they were too quick.  They turned and ran for the door, flinging  their payment at the waitress quickly.  John chased them, and so did a big crowd, waiting to see some blood.

"Jack!  Barbosa!" Charlotte shouted at her friends, and then hopped some boxes to a roof.  Jack smiled and he and Barbosa did the same.  They thought they were safe, but soon found John after them.

"AARRRR!" he shouted, and climbed up the boxes at a tremendous speed.  Barbosa looked around for a way out, then smiled when he found one.  

"Jack, Reed, this way!" he shouted and started toward a small barn with a straw roof.  Surprisingly, John followed them.

"Make sure to get across before he gets here!" Barbosa shouted, and all three of them hopped across to a solid roof.  John tried to follow, but didn't make it.  He fell through the roof, and landed in a pig sty.  Thankfully the blow knocked him out for more than just a split second.

Barbosa landed on the other side of building, away from the crowd, and the others followed him.

"That was close!" Charlotte said, breathing hard.  

"Not even," Jack said, not willing to admit it.  "That was… cake…"

"It's a good thing Barbosa saw that straw roof," Charlotte said.  She smiled at him.  "I owe ya."  Barbosa beamed.

"That was some fine footwork," said a new voice.  Everyone turned to see the 20-year-old that had been looking at them before.  "Very pirate-like."

"We are pirates, and proud of it," Charlotte said.  "If ye have any problem with that--"

"Oh, no, quite the contrary," said the man.  He smiled and held out his hand to Charlotte.  "Name's William Turner, but ye can call me Bootstrap."

Charlotte cautiously took his hand.  "Reed," she said.  "This is Jack and Barbosa."

"Well, then, friends," said Bootstrap.  "How would ye like to join a pirate crew?"

AN2: Sorry about the angry managment problem I was having up there with a reviewer.  I am just sick of my characters being called Mary-sues.  The next person who calls it that gets to see Mordor's Mountain of Fire up close… REEEAAALLLL close.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Me Char.  Char no own Pirates of Caribbean.  Char think maybe someone own, but Char not know who.  Someone think maybe Disney own… Nah… ^_^

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Seven

Charlotte looked around the Queen's bedroom.  Something about the palace had refreshed her soul, and she felt happier then she had in a long time.  She observed her new surroundings, but they seemed so familiar to her.  The dresser, the bed, the wardrobe… everything called to her.

"Here's the writing," Isaac said, breaking Char's thoughts.  Char looked in the direction of Isaac's voice and saw a piece of paper with a familiar cryptic code on it, making out one word.  It was pinned hastily to the wall with a hair pin.  Char took it down and looked at it carefully, all her friends by her side waiting to see what she would do.

"Can you read it, Charlotte?" Isaac asked hopefully.  Char concentrated hard.

"Well…" she said.  "This last letter… I think it's an 'e'.  An' this second one is an 'a'…  these three letters are an 'r' an 'o' and a 'b'.  An' if this is an 'r' so is this one…  I can' make out these other two…"

"So, so far we have '_ar_robe' then, right?" Will said, writing all the known letters on a piece of paper.

"Arrobe?" Elizabeth said, looking over the paper.  "That doesn't make much sense…"

"Wait!" Char said suddenly.  "This first one… I think it's a 'w'."

"War_robe…" Norrington said thoughtfully.  "Could that be 'Wardrobe'?"

"It could!" Isaac said, and ran over to the wardrobe, throwing open the door.  To his disappointment, there was nothing unusual.

"Perhaps that's not right," Jack said.  "Why would yer queen write 'wardrobe'? There's nothin' ta be said about it."

"I agree with Jack," Bill said.  "Nothin' special."  Rebecca nodded also.

"I don' suppose there's somethin' behind the wardrobe?" Matthew asked.  He had accompanied the group at Char's request.

Char suddenly lit up.  "There is!" she said and ran over the wardrobe.  She shoved some dresses aside so the back of the dresser was completely visible.  

"Hurray, you found the back of the dresser," Rebecca said unenthusiastically.  "Good for you."

"Watch this though," Char said, and pulled out a piece of the back, revealing a small crack.  She wedged her hand in the crack and pulled.  "When we were kids, we used to explore the treasure rooms an' armory," Char explained, everything coming back to her.  She tugged harder on the crack.  "We took all kinds of thin's out of them.  Things we found hidden away, like maps, compasses, swords, helmets… you name it.  Oh bother, I canea open this crack.  Matthew, if you would be so kind?"  Matthew nodded, and reached to the back and pulled.  The door came open with one swift swoop.

Everyone except Char stared in amazement.  "So this is your secret hideaway?" Norrington asked.  "Did anyone know about it?"

"Not a soul," Char said, smirking.  "We kept it bloody private."  She looked closely at the new objects before her, then got a nasty look on her face.  "There's two thin's missin'."

"What?" Isaac said, and came up behind her.  "What's missin'? I-I mean missing…"  Jack looked strangely at Isaac, because for a second he sounded pirate-like, but no one else noticed.

"There's a compass an' a map missin'," Char informed them.  "The map was the map of LaMonica himself, an' it led to the caves of his hidden treasure.  He ne're lived to see them again, though.  Somebody ran him through.  His son still roams the seas."

"I never liked him," Jack said crossly.  "Didn' follow the code.  His bloody son don' either.  Ain't right--Ow!"

"Hush, Jack!" Char said, smacking him.  "I ain't finished yet!  Anyway, the map had a weird kinda magic on it, makin' it invisible."

"Invisible?" Matthew said, puzzled.  "Wha' good is an invisible map?"

"Well, the paper could be seen, but the stuff on the paper was invisible, 'cept for a phrase written in the corner.  A few select people could read it, and then the map would be visible again, for a while."

"What was the phrase?" Will asked.

"Translated it said, 'I summon thy power to thee'," Char said.  

"Interesting…" Norrington commented.  "What was the full phrase?"

"It was _Elensil mani rooke_," Char said out loud.  No sooner did the words escape her, did the ground seemed to shake.  Suddenly Rebecca called out, and pointed to where the map once was.  Everyone turned, and saw the wall glowing with all the things that were on the map.  Char was frantic.

"Quick!  Quick!  Someone draw it!  Get it on paper!"  The group ran around in chaos, until Rebecca pulled out a quill and began writing on the back of the Queen's note.  In a few minutes she was done, and the map was gone.  Rebecca held back the paper and admired her work.

"Beautiful art, if I do say so meself," Rebecca said.  Jack took the paper.  

"Good job, lass," he said.  "We'll make a pirate out o' you yet.  Since this is wha' was missin' I'm gonna guess this is where they are."

"Jack, that's not the only thin' missin'…" Char said.  Jack looked up.

"What else was?"

"A black compass…" Char said slowly.  "…that doesn't point North…"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I HATE DRIVING AT NIGHT!!! Ok, that's not a disclaimer…Let's try this. I don't own I-HATE-DRIVING-AT-NIGHT!!! Pirates of the I-HATE-DRIVING-AT-NIGHT!!! Caribbean.  Ok… I'm better…. ^_^

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Eight

"Prepare ta take the town, boys!" Horen shouted at his crew.  "They ain't got no life left in 'em!"  Charlotte and Bootstrap Bill grabbed their pistols and hopped in Barbosa's and Jack's boat, headed for the port town in England.

One year had passed since Bill of the Red Tide introduced Captain Horen to Jack and the gang.  Bootstrap had befriended Jack, Barbosa, and Reed quickly, and joined the gang.  Now they were on their first major job since joining, and Charlotte couldn't be more excited.

The boat continued at a slow pace toward shore.  Charlotte looked anxiously at Jack, who was rowing.  "Ready?" she barely squeaked out.  Jack flashed the biggest grin Charlotte had ever seen.

"Never more ready in my life!" he said, and Barbosa grinned too.

"This is gonna be the biggest event o' our lives!" he said.  He couldn't have been more right in his life.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Run!"

"Look out!" 

"Retreat!!!"

The Red Tide pirates ran down to the port and piled into the boats as fast as they could.  No one had counted on the British army showing up, and now they were flying for their lives.

Charlotte and Barbosa got into the last boat and rowed away at full speed.  

"I hope Jack and Bill got away all right…" Charlotte mumbled.

"I'm sure they're OK," Barbosa assured her.  Charlotte nodded, but something bit at her inside.

That night, Horen took a head count.  Three men were killed, and another was wounded, but would recover in time.  Two were missing.  Charlotte didn't even have to guess who they were.

Charlotte almost gave her true gender away that day.  She could barely contain her emotions.  Thankfully she was able to hide away in her cabin for most of that night.

At the next port, Charlotte said goodbye to Horen and Barbosa, and left the crew.  Barbosa was sad to see her go, and almost left with her, but she convinced him to stay.  She walked up the docks, heading for her new home.  She noticed the city sign with the name on it.

"Port Royal," Charlotte said to herself.  She smiled sadly.  "I guess this is home…"


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: ::raises right hand:: I hereby declare that Pirates of the Caribbean is not mine, save for Charlotte Reed and Rebecca Lynn.  As for the alien chickens with nuclear apples, and African honey monkeys, I plead the fifth…

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Nine

"So yer sayin' there's another compass to Isla de Muerta?" Bill asked unbelieving.  "I thought there was only one!"

"Well, there has ta be at least two," Char explained.  "The missin' compass didn' point North, and looked exactly like Jack's."

"So now there are two possible places where the queen could be…" Will said thoughtfully.  "If it is Devon behind this, he probably took both things to force us to split up."

"And that's what I'm aimin' ta do," Jack said determined.  "Two ships to each location.  I don' want ta risk more than that.  C'mon, we're going to the port."

Down by the ships, the party regrouped to decide what to do.

"I want the Black Pearl and the Serpent's Tail to go to Isla de Muerta," Jack said.  "Both captains and crews have been there before, and those are the fastest ships.  Compared to this map, it's our farthest place.  Gibbs and Matthew will go to LaMonica's Caves."  He handed the map to Gibbs.  "If you get there, and there's nothing, wait for us, we'll come get you.  As far as the other captains go--"

"Wait a minute!" Rebecca shouted.  "Wha' about my ship!"

"I am NOT lettin' ye and yer ship go to either place," Jack said firmly.  "Yer amateurs, and you'll get yourselves killed.  Ye will be with me on my ship."

"Grrr…" Rebecca growled.  "Someday, Jack Sparrow…"

"Bill, I also want ye on me ship," Jack continued, ignoring Rebecca.  "Will and Elizabeth will join Char."  He turned to Anna Maria.  "Anna, I will let you decide who ye wants to go with.  Same goes for Norrington and Isaac.  I ain't yer keeper."

"I'll go with Gibbs," Anna said.  

"I will accompany Matthew," Norrington said, who had developed a genuine trust for him.  Matthew smiled.

"Pleasure to have a real seaman on board," Matthew said sincerely.  

"I'll go with you, Jack, if it's not too much trouble," Isaac said.  To Char's surprise, Jack welcomed him on board.

"Alright then, we have everything set up," Jack said.  "We needa prepare for a long journey.  Those staying can do as they please.  Let's get to it!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isaac wandered around on the deck of the Black Pearl, two nights after the group separated.  The crew was asleep below deck, and for the first time he was able to enjoy the sea like he used to.  He wasn't the land-lubber everyone thought he was.  He closed his eyes and let the sea mist hit his face.  Old memories surfaced in his mind.

"Enjoyin' yerself, Lieutenant?" said a voice.  Isaac didn' even turn around.

"Yes, sir," he replied.  "Enjoyin' the sea as it was meant to be enjoyed."

"You're no bloody lieutenant," Jack said.  "Yer a bloody pirate."

" 'Bout time one of ye recognized me," Isaac said, his uppity accent changing.  He smirked at Jack.  "Always was kinda slow."

Jack laughed.  "I rememba ya now," he said.  "You were a part of Horen's crew."

"That I was," Isaac said, not looking up.

"Yer just as bad as Devon," Jack said.  "You're deceivin' your queen."

"I'm not deceivin' anyone," Isaac said.  "She knows I'm a pirate."

"She does?"

"Aye," Isaac answered.  "But she kept me, because I knew Charlotte."

"Didja know she was a woman?" Jack asked, blinking.

"Only after you an' Bill were left behind," Isaac explained.  "Though I don' think she ever knew."

"Why after we were gone?"

"She was very upset," Isaac explained.  "Afta that raid she left us, when we arrived in Port Royal.  I believe she ended up working for the local blacksmith."

Jack laughed.  "Seems a lot of old friends worked for that bloody blacksmith," he said.  "Bill's son Will did the same." 

"Tha's why he looked so familiar," Isaac said thoughtfully.  "Anyway, after Charlotte left, and Barbosa left, it got too quiet, so I made for London.  I applied for the army knowing with my skills I could make it.  But when the queen found out I was a pirate, she immediately made me her top lieutenant guard.  That was the most surprising thing tha' ever happened to me.  I expected to be hanged."

"That's odd…"

"Aye, very," Isaac said. "But apparently she found out that I knew a person named Reed.  She questioned me about 'im, an' concluded that it was the Charlotte Reed she once knew.  I didn' hear anythin' else about it until you all showed up in London."  He smiled at the thought.  "Tha' was a nasty thing ta do to a man."

"Eh, he deserved it," Jack said.  "Nobody messes with me friends an' gets away with it."

Isaac laughed, then continued.  "Well, after that, she spilled the beans about Char.  Soon afterward she disappeared."

"Oh, how tragic," Jack said sarcastically.  Isaac looked angrily at Jack, but Jack couldn't see in the dim light.

"I'm gonna turn in," Isaac said, and left for his cabin.  Jack just shrugged and turned back to his steering.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Serving Size 1/36 of a page.  

Servings per chapter about 224 

Ingredients: I, don't, own, Pirates, but, Char, and, Rebecca, are, MINE!* 

*Percent Daily Values are based on a chapter a day diet.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Ten

"Good job, Charlotte, that's all the orders for today."  Charlotte looked up to see her master, the blacksmith.  He smiled at her.  "I have one more thing for you to do, and you'll be done for today."  He handed her a small blue sword case, a sword that Charlotte had made that day.  "Take this to the docks," said the smith.  "There's a man there by the name Smith, and he ordered this.  Apparently he's preparin' for some big journey.  Getting' supplies for boat buildin' too."  He took out a handful of doubloons and gave them to Charlotte.  "I put in a bonus for working so hard today."  Charlotte smiled and put the coins in her pocket.  Then she took her sword, gun and knife, and headed toward the docks.

Charlotte was almost 30 years old now, and had lived in Port Royal for nearly ten years.  She hoped around, smiling at all the familiar faces.  Though she had a few friends here, no one really understood her, and not a day went by when she didn't miss her true friends.  She had kept her pirate and sword skills in good practice, and even pulled a few jobs.  Even though she let known her real gender, she kept the same outfit Jack had given her 20 years ago.  No one thought much of it.

She turned a corner, and there were the docks.  She raised an eyebrow at all the commotion going on.  There were people loading wood and various such things for boat construction onto three different ships.  Men were running around all over the place.  Down by the edge, someone was giving orders.

"Take that piece to the Dauntless," said the voice.  Charlottes' ears picked up. 

"I know that voice!"  Running at full speed, she shoved past all the men and found the source of the voice.

"Jack Sparrow!" she shouted.  The man ahead of her paused, then slowly turned around. 

Jack had changed.  He now had far more beads in his hair than before, and had grown a beard, which he braided.  On top his head was a black captains' hat, and he wore a big coat.  Jack looked curiously at Charlotte.  Suddenly it came to him.

"Reed?" he asked cautiously.

"Why so surprised?" Charlotte asked.  "You look like ye've seen a ghost!"

Jack suddenly drew his sword and placed it inches from Charlotte's neck.  "I may have," he said.  "I was told you were dead."  He inched closer.  "Somethin's different about ye…" He raised his sword for a blow.

Before he could react, Charlotte's sword was unsheathed, his sword was hooked, and both swords were at his neck.  Charlotte smiled.  "You still can' beat me, Jack," she said smugly.

Then Jack laughed.  "Same ol' Reed," he said.  "Ye haven' changed much."  He smiled and gave Charlotte a quick hug.  "What 'ave you been up to?"

"Blacksmithin' mostly," Charlotte said. 

"Blacksmithin'?" Jack said.  He laughed again.  "Ye hear that, Bootstrap?  Reed's been blacksmithin'!"

Suddenly from the crowd, Bootstrap Bill came out.  He was almost the same as before, but he had a neat little beard.  He beamed when he saw his old friend.

"Takin' after me, eh, lad?" he said, hugging Charlotte.  "Great minds must think alike!"

Charlotte laughed.  It was so good to see her old friends again, and soon it felt like they were never apart.

"So, what did you guys do after ye was stranded in that horrid little town?" Charlotte asked.

"I didn' do much," Jack said.  "Kept up with the piracy, of course, but not much more besides.  Bill here did somethin' rather unexpected."  Charlotte looked at him closely.

Bill blushed for the first time that Charlotte had ever seen.  "I… I got married," he explained.  This was news.

"Married?"

"Yup, and there's already a little William Turner runnin' around," Jack said, smiling.  "Barely a one year old.  Didn' waste much time."

"If yer married, why are you here?" she asked.

"The sea called to me," Bill said.  "I canea ignore the sea."

"Plus I gave him an offer he couldn' refuse," Jack said winking.

Charlotte looked at him suspiciously.  "What offer?"

"We're goin' after the gold of Cortez, on the Isla de Muerta," said a new voice.  Charlotte looked up to see a familiar face.  Barbosa.

Right away she could tell something was wrong with him.  He didn't have the cheery, sneaky face he once had.  He looked suspicious, shady.  But Charlotte kept these feelings to herself.  She observed her old friend.  He seemed a lot older than he should have been, and he had grown an unruly looking beard.  He stared down at her, but she just smiled.

"Barbosa!" she exclaimed, pretending to excited.  "I havn' seen you in ages!"

"Nor have I," Barbosa said bitterly.  Jack didn't notice his attitude.  Instead he put an arm around Charlotte and smiled.  

"Look what I found!" he said grinning.  "An' ye told me he was dead."

"Shame, shame," Bill put in.  Barbosa was not amused.

Charlotte changed the subject.  "Isla de Muerta?" 

"Aye," Jack said.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black compass.  In her mind, she thought it looked strongly familiar, but she couldn't place it.  Jack opened it, and showed off his prize.

Charlotte waited for the needle to point North, but it never did.  She looked at Jack who was still grinning.  "A compass that doesn't point North…?" she said doubtfully.

"Indeed, it doesn't point North," Jack said.  "But it wasn' meant ta find North."  He grinned insanely.

"The island?"

"Yup."

Charlotte looked at the compass.  "An' yer plannin' on tryin' ta find it?"

"Yes, sir!" Jack said.  "We're takin' these supplies to Tortuga, findin' us a crew, and buildin' us a boat—er, ship."

"I don' suppose ye wants ta come with us?" Bill asked.  Barbosa shot him a look, but Bill didn't see it.

"What 'ave ya got ta lose?" Jack said.

Charlotte smiled.  "I'll join ye," she said.  She paused.  "But first I gotta deliver this sword.  I owe that to my master."

Jack looked at the sword.  "Who is it for?" 

"A man named Smith."

Suddenly Jack and Bill burst into laughter.

"What?"

"I'm Smith," Jack said.  "Figured it'd be better to use an alias.  Wouldn't be good if me real name got out, savvy?"  He took the sword from Charlotte.  "There, now you've delivered yer sword.  And we're all packed up.  Lads, time to set sail!"


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: How many disclaimers does it take to get to the end?  Dutch Hot Cocoa Mix!  I don't own Pirates, other peoples do… Char and Rebecca are mine, so if you take EITHER of them without permission, you shall be squashed by fuzzy camels.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Eleven

Norrington stood on the stern of the Star Crest.  The breeze felt good to him and was a nice break from the bottom of the ship.  Gibbs informed them that it would be another good day and night before they arrived at LaMonica's Caves, so the Commodore was enjoying himself while he could.

"So how do you know Miss Reed, Matthew?" he asked the captain.  Matthew smiled at the memory.

"She came to me in Port Royal after she escaped Barbosa's crew," he said.  He sighed.  "She was not in a good mood.  Said she was lookin' for some revenge.  She came to me because she heard I was a good sea lad.  I was actually a lieutenant at the time."

"You were a lieutenant for Port Royal?" Norrington asked, not believing.

"Aye," Matthew said.  "But I wasn't goin' anywhere.  The commodore in charge was a nasty man.  'E was at least ten times as worse as you on your worst days.  Not that you're a bad commodore," he added hasily when Norrington shot him a look.  "So I figured I didn' have anythin' ta lose.  I joined Char."

"I see…"  Norrington frowned.  "I still can't believe she tricked me into thinking she wasn't a pirate."

Matthew laughed.  "Don' be too hard on yerself, mate," he said.  "She had an entire crew convinced she was a man for more years then I care to remember."

"What?!"

"It's true," Matthew said.  "And she had Jack, Barbosa and Bootstrap Bill convinced for even longer.  'Bout 30 years, I think it was."

"I'm impressed…" Norrington said thoughtfully.  "Though I'm not terribly surprised.  When we found her stranded, we all thought she was a man."

"Guess she did a good job then," Matthew said.  "Anyway, she introduced herself as a woman in Port Royal.  I think she was there for about 10 years."

"That explains how she knew it so well," Norrington said.  "And you, I guess that explains how you knew it, too.  Gibbs didn't seem to know what he was doing."

"Gibbs always was a strange man," Matthew said.  "He had been on Horen's crew, (that be Char's first pirate crew) and he never knew Char was a woman either.  After she left that crew, he went to England with another of the crew and became a sea man.  After he came to Port Royal he decided he didn' like it there, and left for Tortuga."  Matthew laughed.  "You should've seen the look on his face when we pulled up to the Black Pearl lookin' for Jack.  He turned so red when he realized he'd been pirates with a woman."

Norrington smiled.  "He always said it was bad luck to have a woman on board a ship."

"He also thought it bad luck ta wake a man when he's sleepin' and to sing about pirates," Matthew put in.  "The man knows 'bout every curse and bad luck happenin' there is."

Norrington chuckled a little to himself.  He yawned.  "I better turn in," he said.  "It's getting late."

" 'Night, Commodore," Matthew said.  "You know, yer not as bad as Jack says ye is."

"I'm glad to hear that," said the Commodore, not wanting to know how bad Jack said he was.  He went to the bottom cabin and turned in.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I've written so many of these, I can spell 'disclaimer' in my sleep!  This story is mine, but the movie is not, but Char is, but Jack isn't, but Rebecca is, but Will isn't, but the Serpent's tail is, but the Black Pearl isn't… Ok, I think you get it.

AN: Thanks to Seraphina2 for your constant reviews, they light up my day!  I totally intended for Char to be about 40.  She and Jack have to be the same age, because otherwise she couldn't have had the relationship she had with Jack in the first one.  You're the only one so far who has caught that!

Vera-Sabe, you are one awesome reviewer!!  Few people have so many wonderful things to say about either of my fics.  ::sniff:: I'm so happy!!

Seth7, thank you so much for sticking by me, it's so nice to see people reading my fic!!  You're very much loved. ^_^

AN: Oops, forgot to do story… here it is….

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Twelve

Bill Turner sat in his cabin in the Black Pearl polishing his sword.  Jack informed the crew that they would arrive at Isla de Muerta, soon, and if that was where the queen was, he knew there'd be a battle.  He never went into battle with a rusted sword.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.  "C'mon in," Bill said not looking up.  To his surprise, Rebecca was at the door.

"Please, sir," she began.  "I'm told you're a blacksmith."

"That I am," Bill said.  "An' don' call me sir.  Not very pirate-like."

Rebecca shifted, a nervous look coming over her.  Bill studied her for a moment.

"Ye have never been in battle before, 'ave ye?"

"No, sir… I-I mean, Mr. Turner… I-I mean, Bootstrap… sir."  Anyone could tell she was uneasy.  Bill only smiled.

"No sweat, Miss Lynn," Bill said.  "If a battle is what this comes to, ye just stick by me, and no harm'll come to ye."  He looked at her sword a moment.  "Do ye know how ta use that?"

She looked at the sword.  "Kinda," she said.  "I mean, I know several passes, and how ta block, but I lack real skills…"

"You'll learn," Bill assured her.  " 'Specially if ya stick with us for a time.  Jack'll teach ya.  He taught Char, and she's as good as they come."  He grinned confidently at her.  "Now what's this business 'bout me bein' a blacksmith?"

"I need someone to clean me sword," she said.  "I've ne're used this sword before, and it's rusted terribly. Can you clean it?"

"I can certainly try," Bill said, and Rebecca handed her sword to him.

"I've never cleaned it before, and it--"

"Where did you get this sword?" Bill asked cutting her off.  Rebecca looked up to see Bill staring wide-eyed at the sword in his hand.  Rebecca didn't know what to say.

"Excuse me?"

"Where did you get this sword?" Bill asked again.

"I-I found it on my first trip from home," Rebecca answered.  "It was on a--"

"--Little island out in the middle of no where," Bill finished for her.  "And there's a cave."

"Yes!  A little cave, barely noticeable."

"An' the island is surrounded by rocks."

"And coral." 

"An' it's nearly impossible to get there, but when you do, it feels so worth it."

"Yes!  That's the exact place," Rebecca said, shocked.  "How did you know?"

"I've been before," Bill said.  He shook his head.  "In the back of the cave there's a wall hangin' for swords.  There are five slots.  An' above the slots was a poem."

"Exactly!" Rebecca said.  She paused.  "I don' suppose you know where the other four swords are?"

"Four swords?" Bill asked confused.  "There were only three when I went."

"There was one when I went, an' I took it," Rebecca said.  "But I couldn't find the other swords."

"I only took two because I couldn' pick the other one.  It wouldn' let me."

"And I'm guessin' those swords of Will and Elizabeth's are those swords?"

"Indeed," Bill said.  "Most people think I made them, but in fact I only restored them to their proper shine."  He grinned at Rebecca.  "They're magic, you know."

"They are not!" Rebecca said unbelieving.

"Aye, they are," Bill said.  "Char used them to save Jack when he nearly got 'imself killed on our last 'picnic'.  Didn' ya read the poem by the slots?"

"I did, but I didn' understand what it meant," Rebecca admitted.  "I don' even remember what it said."

Bill took a deep breath.

_"Gems of power, hilts of gold,_

_Mix them together, there's magic untold,_

_"Crossing two blades heals wounds and brings wealth,_

_Four swords together thwarts death itself,_

_"Two Lost Forgotten grants the wishes of one,_

_Four Missing Wonders and the magic is done,_

"…And that's the story," Bill finished.

"That is a beautiful poem," Rebecca said.

Bill shrugged.  "When I read the poem I figured it was a hoax, but then when Charlotte used them to heal Jack's wounds, I knew better." He paused thoughtfully, and looked into the distance.  "Y'know, there was another line to that poem, but I ne'er could read it."

"There should be," Rebecca said.  "It never mentioned the fifth sword, and you know there has to be one."

"Aye…" Bill said, still thinking.  He shrugged again.  "No matter, though.  Lemmie see that sword an' we'll see if we can' shine it up for ye."


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Fuzzy, uzzy, muzzy, luzzy, and stuff.  THIIIIISS IISSS NOT MINNNNNNNEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::runs in a circle::

AN: Just to let you know, Mrs.Sparrow, the story will get faster.  Just wait, it'll get better! ^_^ Also, thank you!  You're almost the only person from ROTST that has reviewed this one.

AN2:  I am losing my in-touch with Jack, so I'm gonna see the movie again.  Forgive me if I don't update for a while.  Sorry 'bout the delay for this one, but my friend loaned me her Dreamcast, and I played Sonic Adventure 2 until I threw up.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Thirteen

Jack Sparrow watched his crews down at the docks.  The ships they built were beautiful.  They had been designed to be the fastest ships possible.  All that needed to be done now was load the cargo and wait for Reed to come back from wherever it was he went.  Jack grinned and walked down the dock.

"We should be ready ta set sail by the time Reed is back from visitin' his girlfriend-- Ow!"

Charlotte came up from behind Jack and smacked him in the head.  "Me girlfriend…?"  Jack turned and faced Charlotte.

"I was just kiddin'…"

"Sure," she said smiling.  She walked down the docks with Jack, and everyone working stopped what they were doing and gathered around him.  Bill and Barbosa pushed their way to the front.  They knew what Jack was going to do, and they couldn't be more excited.

"Gents," Jack began.  "Before you are the two best ships in the Spanish Main.  An' we built them!"  Cheers came from the crowd.  "But, there's one thin' they're missin'.  Captains."  The crowd quieted.  "It is my intention to name them here today."  He grinned.  "Ye should know by now I plan on captainin' the Black Pearl," he continued.  "But the Serpent's Tail seems to be without one.  The man I appoint is one that has been with me since me first crew.  He is strong, brave, and knows how ta pirate!"  Barbosa smiled.  Charlotte could tell he thought he was going to get it.  "The man I appoint will be…"  Barbosa moved slightly toward Jack.  But Jack's next words froze him in his tracks. "Bootstrap Bill!"  Cheers went up, and Barbosa's face visibly fell. Bill couldn't believe it.

Jack grinned.  Bill grinned back and Char laughed.  "Boys, we'll be sailin' for the Isla de Muerta!  The procession went down to the docks, Barbosa in back, scowling all the way. 

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bill stood at the helm of the Serpent's Tail, watching carefully ahead of him.  Charlotte, whom he chose as his first mate, stood by him, looking about cautiously.  The Serpent's Tail and the Black Pearl found their way into some thick fog, and lost their bearings.

"This ain't good…" Charlotte said.  "This is some omen from hell…"

"Aw, this is just some mist," Bill said.  "Nothin' wrong with it."

Charlotte shrugged.  "You're the captain," she said.  "I'm goin' down below."

"Alright," Bill said and continued steering.

Suddenly there was a shout from the Pearl.

"Stop!  Don't go any further!  Coral everywhere!"  Bill ordered the anchor to be dropped, and they stopped right before they hit the now visible rocks.  Bill sighed.  

Jack popped on board not long after.  "Seems to be an island of rocks," he informed Bill.  "Not much else out there, though.  But, the crew's complainin', so we're gonna take a breather.  Two hours seems enough, don' you think?"

"Seems fine," Bill said.  "Reed seems to be a bit grumpy too, so maybe this is a good thing."

"Glad ye agree," Jack said smiling, and he went back to the Pearl.

Bill looked through his telescope at the rocks in the water.  Something was there, he could smell it, he could almost taste it.  He focused hard on various positions, but there didn't seem to be anything.  He was about to give up, when he saw it-- a small little island in the center with a little opening, probably a cave.  Bill smiled.  He decided to explore it by himself.

He took a big bag from his room next to Charlottes'.  He listened by her room for a moment, and decided she was taking a bath.  "Bloody woman is what he is," Bill muttered.  He went back to the deck and put a man named Ashton in charge.  Then he got into one of the boats and went to the caves.

  
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Bill climbed aboard the Serpent's Tail with a sac full of swords.  No one really noticed that he them.  They all saw him leave with the bag, and they all figured he had just paid a visit to the Pearl.  

Bill snuck around the ship and made his way to the bottom of the ship.  He was so nervous, that he wasn't watching which room he was going into.  He opened the door to what he thought was his room.  He was horribly, terribly wrong.  

He turned around thinking he would see his own room, but what he saw instead was Charlotte Reed, standing there without anything on but a rag to dry herself with.  Bill froze in his tracks.

"Who… what??"

Charlotte sighed.  "Y'know, Bill, it's really rude to enter a persons' room without knockin'."

"Reed…?" Bill asked, astonished.

"Actually, it's Charlotte…"

Bill's expression suddenly changed, and he pulled out one of the swords in his hand.  "I should kill you right now!" he shouted.

Charlotte sighed again and in the blink of an eye, she had her own sword out, his sword hooked, and both swords in her hands at his throat.  "I was fakin' my gender, not my skills, Bill," she said.  "I could kill you at any time."

Bill put his hands up.  "Fine, I'll leave ye be," he said, not wanting to face her in battle.  Charlotte smiled, then put both swords down.  Bill relaxed.

"Why…?" he asked cautiously. 

"Why what?" Charlotte asked.  She watched him looking over her slim body.  "Why are you still lookin' at me?"  Bill blushed.  Charlotte laughed.  "Yer so cute when you blush."  Bill blushed harder.  "Don' worry, I respect you bein' a married man," Charlotte promised.

"That… still doesn't answer my… question…" Bill said.

"I'll tell ye as soon as ye give me me shirt," Charlotte said.  Bill looked around and found it.  He tossed the shirt at Charlotte, who already had her pants and sword on.  "Sit down," she commanded.  Bill sat, and Charlotte sat too.

"The whole thing kinda started on accident," she began and she explained about Jack not letting her tell her full name.  "When I got to his little hideout and saw Barbosa, I figgered it'd be better to keep my true gender hidden, so's they wouldn' take advantage o' me."

"That makes sense…" Bill said.

"I thought so.  I suppose I took farther than it needed ta be, but it's a bit late for that now, eh?"  She grinned.  "Jack I wouldn' be so scared about now, but I didn' know 'im then.  Barbosa, though, I ne'er trusted him to keep his hands off me."

"Yeah…" Bill said thoughtfully.  "He's been actin' really strange lately."  

"You noticed too?" 

"Yes…" Bootstrap said.  "He seems distant… Not 'imself, certainly."  Bill shrugged.  "Not my business though."  He turned to leave.

"Bill, you forgot yer sword," Charlotte said, and handed him the blade.  "Where'd ye get it anyway?"

"I made it," Bill lied, taking back the sword.

"Bill?"

"Yeah?"

"Don' tell anyone," Charlotte said.  " 'Specially not Jack."  Bill only grinned.

"My lips are sealed, Charlotte."

"That's Reed."

"Whatever you say Char," Bill said, and walked off, Charlotte grinning behind him.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog with will totally destroy, and otherwise utterly mutilate any and all persons who claim to own anything outside of what they own.  Sonic kicked my butt when I was Shadow, so I guess that means I have to disclaim… Pirates of the Caribbean isn't mine, but  Charlotte Reed, Rebecca Lynn and all the ships not in the movie are mine.  Please no touchie!

AN: Seraphina2, just so you know, I didn't forget about the mutiny and stuff.  Just be patient it'll happen! ^_^

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Fourteen

Rebecca walked outside after Bill cleaned her sword.  She wanted to try the few passes she knew, just in case.  She knew Bill would probably protect her like he promised, but she didn't want him getting killed for her.  She struck left and right in the cool night air, but then she clumsily dropped the sword with a loud crash. 

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" said a voice.  Rebecca looked up to Jack at the helm, smiling down at her.  "Can' sleep?"

"No…" Rebecca said.  "I just want to… practice."

"For any possible battles?"

"Yes…" she said.  She picked up her sword.  "Bill said he'd watch out for me, but there's no sense in him dyin' for me."

Jack laughed.  "Dearie, he can' die.  Bill is permanently cursed.  Stickin' swords in 'im is useless."

"Cursed?" Rebecca asked confused.

"No one told ye?" Jack said.  "He turns into a bony undead under the moonlight.  Can' eat, can' drink, but, he can' die neither."

Rebecca's eyes got wide.  Jack just smiled.  "Doesn' matter though," Jack said.  "He's still one of us."

"If you say so…"

Silence.  "So…" Jack said.  "Why do you want ta find your father?  He is a pirate after all."

Rebecca paused, and she frowned.  "It… it was my mother's dying wish," she said slowly.  "She told me to find him, because she always said that he was a good man, and would watch out for me.  I've been searchin' since I was ten, when she died."

"Hmm…" Jack thought hard.  "Have you looked at your birth records?" 

"Nothin' about the father."

"Events during your birth?"

"No pirates were in my town at that time in the records."

"Your last name?"

"I have my mother's last name," Rebecca said.  "My father left before I was born on some mission, so she used her name.  Besides, she said he was a feared pirate, and his last name bein' mine would've caused problems."

"I see…  And she never told you his name?"

"Never."

"That makes it hard, love."

"I know…"

Jack thought harder.  "How did you get out of your home town?"

"I left with a boy I knew on a merchant's ship," Rebecca said.  "But the ship was attacked by pirates, and the boy was killed.  The pirates took me aboard, but soon found I was useless, and they dropped me in a town called Port Adria." 

Jack laughed.  "Adira is my hometown," he said.  Suddenly he paused.  "Wait, you were attacked by pirates?"

"Yes, on the crossing from England."

Jack paled.  "What was your friends name?"

Rebecca thought a moment.  "I think his name was Will," she said at last.  "I never told him my real name."

"Was your town the same town he was from?" Jack asked.

"Yes, of course."

Jack paused again.  "Did you actually _see_ the boy being killed?"

"No…" Rebecca said.  "But they didn' leave anyone alive, so I just assumed--"

"Never assume," Jack said.  He closed his eyes.  One more question would confirm it.

"Rebecca, what was your mothers name?"

Rebecca seemed surprised by this question.  "Emily," she said.  "Emily Lynn.  What does that have anything to do with it?"

"Nothin'," Jack assured her.  He smiled sadly, but Rebecca didn't notice.  "I'm sure we'll find your father, Rebecca."  She grinned happily, then retired to her cabin.  Jack turned to his first mate, Ashton, once she was gone.  "Get Bill and tell him to meet me at the Serpent's Tail.  Then take over."

"Aye, Captain," Ashton said, and rushed to do as he was told.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack walked into the Captain's Dining Hall in the Serpent's Tail.  Bill and Char were waiting for him.  Jack sighed worriedly.

"I know who Rebecca's father is," he announced.  Char wasn't even surprised.

" 'Bout time," she said, not looking up.  "Will and I were wondering when you were gonna get it."

"Who is it, Jack?" Bill asked.  Jack paused.

"I… I am."  Bill nearly fell out of his chair.  Char just stood there.

Jack sat down heavily. "_I_ am.  Can you believe it?"

"Who's the mother?" Bill asked.

"I'm wantin' ta know too, Jack," Char said.  Jack frowned.  

"Emily Lynn," he said.  

"Emily?" Bill said surprised.  "Really?"

"Unless Rebecca's lyin', and she don' really have a reason to."

"Who is Emily?" Char asked.

"The only woman I ever really cared for like a woman should be cared for," Jack said.  "An' now I find out she's dead, and she bore me a daughter.  A daughter!  It's almost too much to take in."

Char blinked.  "So what are you gonna do?"

"I'm not gonna tell her, not just yet," Jack said.  "I need some time ta think about this."

Char smiled.  "Think all you want, Jack," she said.  "We'll keep our lips sealed." Bill nodded.

Jack sighed.  "Thank ye," he said.  Char smiled and Bill pat him on the back.  Jack's smile came back, and he left for the Pearl, though with a heavy heart.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Legolas sits with arrows at my head so I disclaim.  Will stands next to him and stares at him thinking he looks familiar.  Orlando just sits and sweatdrops.  Jack says "Pirates of the Caribbean is not this persons, so don't sue, whatever that means."  Charlotte and Rebecca say, "Hey!  We belong to this person, and you cannot take us without permission!"  Matthew claims, "If you do, you'll have to face the Star Crest's cannons!"

AN: Hurray, the first week of collage starts today.  Whee, ::twirls finger unenthusiastically:: But, due to budget cuts, I might be slow putting up new chapters.  Sorry!  I'll do the best I can, but 14.5 units in one semester might be too much.  Anyway, read on while you can! ::dances::

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Fifteen

Bill looked crossly over the water of the Black Pearl.  "Didn' even 'ave the ship for bloody 6 months, and it was taken from me," he said to himself.  "Bloody pirates…"

Indeed, the Serpent's Tail had been taken from a rival pirate gang.  They had been traveling to Isla de Muerta, when LaMonica's gang of cutthroats caught them in a crossfire.  They had no choice but to abandon ship, and let the other gang take it.  If they didn't, they risked the secret of Muerta's treasure being lost.

Bill thought about the two swords he had found in that little island.  He had restored them to their proper shine, and found that they were very well made.  "At least I got them off the ship," he said quietly.  "An' at least we're bloody close to that God-forsaken island."  He thought about what was on the wall above the sword hooks.  "I wonder if it's true," he said, going over the poem in his mind.  _"Magic untold," _he muttered.  "Nah…"

"Your thinkin' too hard, Bill," said a voice.  Charlotte Reed came up behind him.  

"Hi, Char," he said.  Charlotte sighed.

"It's Reed, Bill, _Reed!"_ she said.  "How many times must I tell ye?"

"There's no ears to here me, so I can call ye as I please," Bill said.  "No one in their right mind would--"  Suddenly the sound of footsteps could be heard coming up to the deck.  Though Charlotte and Bill had no reason to fear, something told them to hide.  They ran and hid themselves under the steps leading to the helm, deep in the shadows.

To their surprise, Barbosa came up to deck, with two other members of the crew, Tweak and Pittole.  He was in a foul and dark mood, and the other two kept their distance.

"I've had all I can bloody take of Jack Sparrow," he said aloud.  "First he goes an' makes Bill Turner the captain of the Serpent's Tail, then he bloody let's LaMonica take it!"  He growled.  "'At least we still have the Pearl!'" Barbosa said mocking Jack.  "'We can still get to the island, it'll be a cinch!'"  He grumbled again.  "No more… No more will I take orders from the likes of 'im."

"What ye plan on doing, Barbosa?" Tweak asked.

Barbosa grinned an evil grin.  "I'm plannin' a mutiny…" he said quietly.  Tweak looked shocked, but Pittole liked the idea.

"Tha's just the thin'," he said.  "One less man ta be sharin' the gold with."

"Exactly!  I knew ye'd see thin's my way," Barbosa said.  "Tweak, I'm gonna need yer 'elp too, are ye willin'?"  Tweak hesitated, then he grinned too.  

"I'm all for it," he said.  Barbosa smiled at him.

"Good, good!" he said.  "We'll plan the details later, but for now, let's toast to good fortune!"

Bill and Charlotte would've killed the traitors right then and there, but they had no weapons.  All they could do was warn Jack.  They snuck off below deck, out of sight of Barbosa, hoping to make it in time.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I may have seen Pirates of the Caribbean seven times and paid for half of all it's income, but I don't own it.  (Doesn't that count as stock? ::gives puppy dog eyes::)

AN: I know this chapter's slow and short, but I only had a little time because of school. =-P.  But I hope to get a better chapter going for the next one!  Char and Jack's past is almost done.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Sixteen

"Up, right, down!"  Rebecca blocked all the attacks.  "Now, you do it.  Up, right, down!  Good!"

Will Isla de Muerta close, Bill had begun to teach Rebecca swordplay.  Bill was amazed at her natural ability, and decided she must be Jack's daughter after all.

"Let's try some harder passes," he said.  He lifted his sword for a spinning attack, but suddenly a call from the crows nest stopped him in mid swing.

"Land ho!" called the voice.  Everyone ran to the side of the ship to see the dreaded Island of Death before them.

Charlotte noticed it, too.  She had already slowed the pace down to 15 knots, and put away the sweeps of her ship.  She turned to her new first mate, Nora.  "Nora, when we get closer, I want you to take over.  I'm going to be going on the island with Jack, and everyone."

"Aye, Captain."

The two ships pulled up to the bay at the right and docked.  They were careful to conceal themselves the best they could, and then Jack, Bill, Rebecca, Will, Elizabeth, Isaac, and Char climbed in boats and rowed toward the ever familiar caves.  They failed to notice the London ships in the bay round the corner as they made their way inside.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I own POTC like math is fun!  Ok, I hate math, can you tell?  ::dances:: 

AN: I WANNA SEE PIRATES AGAIN!!!  ::sniffs::   Oh, Ravenwing, (you don't know me, but you reviewed "The Curse Returns", and I read it regularly)  Just to let you know, (I'm not gonna chew you out!) but I think the reason we all choose females for our new POTC character is because men just aren't as much fun to play with… I realize it is TOTALLY wrong, but oh well! ::dances::

AN2: Does anyone know if Morgan and Bartholomew really existed??  I'm doing a report (already) and I'm doing it on pirates (big surprise)  I'm too lazy to find out right now… it's not due till October… ALSO, Seraphina2, is there anyway you could get this message to Ravenwing?  I don't know how… Thanks!! ^_^

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Seventeen

Charlotte and Bill ran as fast as they could to Jack's cabin.  Charlotte was the first one at the door, and she flew it open.

"Jack, Jack!" she cried, forgetting to disguise her voice.  Jack didn't stir.

"Scarlet, that's not a very nice thing to say… ZzZzZzZz…"  Jack rolled over, snoring away.

"JACK!" Charlotte shouted, and smacked him in the head.  Jack was instantly awake.

"I didn' do it…!"  He looked around, and saw Charlotte and Bill panicking.  He frowned.  "Reed?  Bill?  Wha's wrong?  Wha' happened?"

"It's Barbosa," Bill informed him.  "He's planned a mutiny."  Jack paused.

"I knew I shouldn' have given 'im the bearin's…" Jack said crossly.

"He's got the 'hole crew in on it, Jack," Charlotte said.  "We have ta do somethin'!"

Jack's frown deepened, and he closed his eyes, thinking hard.  "Well, we could--" Suddenly loud footsteps were heard walking down toward the cabin.  They were too late.

"The wardrobe," Jack said pointing.  "What ever you do, don' let them know you're on my side.  There's no point in all of us bein' killed."  There was a loud knock on the door.  "Go."  Bill and Charlotte ran over to the wardrobe and hid themselves.  Jack opened the door.

Barbosa was at the door with a hoard of men.  Big surprise on Jack's part, but he pretended it was.  "Barbosa!  What a pleasant surprise."  He grinned inconspicuously.  "Y'know though, ye shouldn' be popin' up at me cabin in the middle of the night.  I can get cranky." 

Barbosa smiled evilly.  "Yer gonna be plenty cranky then, Jack, 'cause yer gonna have many sleepless nights."  He grabbed Jack roughly, and dragged him angrily to the hold.  Bill and Charlotte followed closely behind.  Down in the hold, Barbosa roughly put Jack in one of the cells.

"That's not very nice…" Jack said.

"Too bad for ye," Barbosa said.

Jack frowned angrily.  "What is this, Barbosa?"

"What, don't ye know?  It's a mutiny, of course."  Barbosa imitated Jack's grin mockingly.  Charlotte and Bill came down the stairs and hid carefully behind a crate.  Jack subtly motioned for them to stay.

"And whatever for?" Jack asked, keeping Barbosa's attention.

Barbosa's smiled faded, and anger built up in his face.  It got hotter and hotter until it finally blew up.  "What for?  What for?!  Well, let's see.  First of all, you didn' give me the bloody Serpent's Tail.  Second of all, ye let that bloody LaMonica take it from us, AND I canea stand yer bloody JOKES!"  All the blood rushed to Barbosa's face, and it lit up like a lighthouse.

Jack raised an eyebrow.  "That's quite some vendetta, Barbosa," he said.  "I didn' realize I was such a pain."

"That's yer problem, ye don' realize," Barbosa said angrily.  "Enjoy yer last moment's of freedom.  Oops!  Too late for that!"  He walked to the steps leading to the deck with his new crew behind him.

When all was clear, Bill and Charlotte came out from hiding. 

"Jack…" Charlotte said, leaning up against the bars.

"Don' fret, Reed," Jack said, grinning.  "If Barbosa didn' kill me in the first five minutes, my instincts tell me he'll maroon me, or somethin'.   I'll just rope me a couple of sea turtles and be on me way!"

Bill frowned.  "Jack, you think too far ahead.  Now's not the time to be cocky."

"Bill, I can take care of meself," Jack said. "You just take care of yourself.  I have a feelin' tha' yer next.  Barbosa is sore 'bout the Serpent."  Jack grinned again.  "Ye better get to yer cabins.  Barbosa might suspect somethin'."

Three days later, they came to a single strip of land.  Barbosa grinned to himself, happier than Charlotte had ever seen him.  On the plank stood Jack with nothing but his own clothes and a pistol with one shot.

"Off ye go, Jack," Barbosa said, nudging him with his sword.  Jack took one look back and met eyes with his only friends.  They gave him looks of sympathy.  He flashed a quick smile, and thankfully Barbosa didn't see it.

"Well, Barbosa, it was a pleasure," Jack said.  He glared at Barbosa for a moment, then catapulted himself off the plank.  The pirates aboard the Black Pearl roared with laughter.

That night, Bill came into Charlotte's cabin.  She was sitting on her bed fingering something in her hand, hanging her head silently.  She looked up when Bill came in.

"You didn' knock," she said, her voice quavering.  Bill sat down next to her, and gently put an arm around her.

"I figured ye'd know it was me," he said.  He looked down at the thing in her hand, and was surprised to see a piece of black hair in her hand.  "What's this?"

"A piece of Jack's hair," Charlotte explained.  "When I first met him, he dressed me like a pirate.  He took a pieced of his hair with beads in it and put the beads in my hair."  She fingered the beads thoughtfully.  "He gave me the hair and told me to hold it for him.  I never bothered to get rid of it."

"Keep it," Bill said.  "Jack would want you too."  Charlotte nodded.  
  
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Two weeks after Jack's maroon, the Black Pearl came up on Isla de Muerta.  Grinning, Barbosa led the crew in boats to the caves.  They docked the boats and made their way through the caverns.  

Bill instantly didn't like them.  "Captain Barbosa, I have a bad feelin' 'bout these caves…"

"Do be quiet, Bill," Barbosa said bitterly.  "Ye have been nothin' but a pain in me side since we rid ourselves of Jack.  Just be 'appy, I let ye come, and be done wit' it."  Bill shut up.

Charlotte came up from behind him.  "I understand yer feelin'…" she said.  "I can' stop this shiverin' in me bones."

"Barbosa won' listen," Bill said, crossly.  "Somethin' is seriously wrong with these caves."

"Ye don' suppose it's that curse we were warned 'bout?"

"I wouldn' be surprised."  Bill lowered his voice so only Charlotte could hear him.  "Char, if anythin' should 'appen ta me, ye have to get away.  Someone has ta teach Barbosa 'bout pirate revenge."  Charlotte nodded.

Suddenly a voice was heard from the head of the procession.  "Captain, we canea go any further."

"What?"  Barbosa pushed the pirates aside, and saw that the cave came to a dead end.  On the wall was a little shelf, but that was about it. "What's this?"  Something was written on the wall.  Barbosa couldn't read it.

"Reed," he said.  "Come read this."  Charlotte came up behind him and looked at the wall.  She read it aloud.

"He who wishes to enter these Cursed Caves, must prove his worth."  No sooner had she said these words did a blunt, yellow knife appear on the shelf.  A small stone shone next to it.  It was an evil blood red.  Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

Barbosa looked closely at the knife and rock.  "I would say," he began.  "That this calls for a blood sacrifice."  He looked at his crew.  "Who be willin'?"  No one moved.  Suddenly Bill stirred.

"I'll do it," he said.  He went over, and picked up the knife.  He looked at it carefully for a moment, then took it and cut a small cut on his palm.  He picked up the little red rock, and covered his blood in it.  When he put the rock back on the shelf, the wall suddenly and instantly disappeared.

Before the mutinous Black Pearl crew sat the chest of Cortez' blood money.  Barbosa grinned greedily.  

"Gents," he said.  "Here is our prize!"  The pirates cheered.  

That night, Charlotte sat in her cabin, fingering one of the gold pieced of Cortez.  She didn't get to take one, Barbosa didn't let her.  Bill had given one to her.  She looked it over.  Something about it made her cringe to look at it, and she stuck it in her pocket.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.  "C'mon in, Bill," she said, as Bill was the only one who knocked.

He came in looking pale.  "Char, they're going to get me," he said.  Charlotte stood up quickly.  

"We have to go!  We have to--"  Bill stopped her.

"No, you have to go.  If we both leave, we'll ne're get away.  I can 'old 'im off, and you can leave."  He handed a package to a speechless Charlotte.  "Take these, there me things."

"Bill--"  

"I don' want ta here it," he said.  "Just go."  Charlotte paused, but then nodded.  She knew what she had to do.  She took her own valuables along with Bill's package and ran to one of the lifeboats.

Charlotte Reed rowed as fast as she could that night, using strength she didn't know she had.  She watched the Pearl, now all alight with torches, fade into the distance.  She tried desperately to tune out the cheers and jeers as Bootstrap Bill Turner was sent to his doom, attached to the side of a cannon.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: ::Charlotte runs up:: POTC is totally hers!!  Really!  OW!  ::Jack smacks in head::  

Jack: It is not, don' let Char fool ye.  Rebecca is really mine, but I'll let the author pretend she and Char belong to her.

Rebecca: What do you mean, I'm really yours??

Jack: NOTHING!  ::looks off::

AN: To Mrs.Sparrow:  I didn't try using the names for the real pirates in the movie.  I was trying to make up my own, but that didn't seem to work out too well… OH WELL!  ::dances::

AN2: PLEASE DON'T KILL MEEEEEE!!!!!!

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Eighteen

The group passed through the rocks on land, after landing and hiding their boats.

"Y'know, Jack," Bill said.  "I didn' see any other boats around.  I doubt that they could've gotten her without 'em."

"Yes, I noticed that, too," Jack said.  "But I wanna make sure."  He led the way around a bend to the upper part of the caves.  He cringed.  "I really wish I didn' have ta keep comin' to this horrid place on business such as this."

They came up to the cliffs with Jack, and looked over the side.  No one was in sight.

"Maybe no one is here, Jack," Elizabeth said quietly.

"I agree with Mrs. Turner," Isaac nodded.

"I've got a bad feelin'…" Char said.

"You always have a bad feeling here," Will said.

"But most of the time it's justified," Bootstrap pointed out.  "She's rarely wrong, if ever."

Rebecca stood up.  "I don' think anythin's here," she said, walking toward the edge.  "I think that-- Ahh!"  Without warning, the cliff gave way, and Rebecca went down with it.  She tumbled and fell, and when the dust settled she found herself in the middle of the room, in a pool of water.

Charlotte was about to go help her, when suddenly four British soldiers came out of no where and forced Rebecca to her feet.  Char hid back in the shadows, and the rest backed away from the edge as well.

They were trying to decide what to do, when from the shadows came a familiar face.  He walked smirking toward Rebecca and everyone got a good look at him--Devon.

"Look what we have here…" he said, looking at Rebecca.  "Seems like we have a visitor."  Rebecca stared him down angrily.

Devon just smiled.  "So, dear," he said.  "I have a proposition for you.  If you tell me where your bloody friends are, then your death will be quite painless."  Jack almost jumped in at that line, but Charlotte held him back.

Rebecca frowned angrily.  "Never," she said, and spat at Devon.

Devon jumped back slightly at this behavior.  "Dear, I am offering you a painless death!  No doubt you are going to die whether I kill you or not, so why not take up the offer?"

"I will NEVER betray my friends to you," Rebecca said.  "May your children's children burn in the same circle of hell as you!"

Devon frowned.  "Fine, we'll do this the hard way."  He drew his sword and placed it inches from Rebecca's throat.  "Jack Sparrow!  I know you're here!  Show yourself or the girl dies!"

Char quietly drew her sword and was about to stand up, but Jack pulled her back down.

"What are you doing, Jack?!" Char hissed.  "Rebecca is going ta die!  Our group can take the five of them!"

"But look," Jack said, and pointed to the outside of the caves.  In every man-sized nook and cranny, was a British solider.  Jack sighed.  "There's only one thing we can do."  Char looked at Jack.  She frowned.

"I don' like the look on yer face, Jack…" she said.

"It's me they want," Jack continued, ignoring Char.  "I'll go down there, and get Rebecca.  Then I'll distract them while ye get out.  Put Will and Elizabeth at the top o' that hill, there, an' Rebecca could go there."

"Jack!" Car said appaled.  "That's a suicide mission!  You'll be…"  She stopped.  Jack's face told her he knew exactly what was going to happen.  "Jack…"

"It's the only way," he said, reassuring himself as well as the others.  He turned to Char.  She frowned sadly.  

"Jack…"  Jack grinned, though sadly. 

"I know what I'm doin'," he said.  "Just leave it ta me!"  Then without warning, Char did something Jack never expected.  She reached up and gently kissed Jack's cheek.  Jack looked startled for a moment, but then noticed Char hang her head.  Two silent tears hit the cold ground and formed a small puddle.  Jack frowned.  He softly touched her chin and lifted her head so he could see her face.  He grinned again.

"No tears, eh?" he said, tenderly wiping one away with his thumb.  "Not very pirate-like.  What'll the others think?" She forced a smile.  "Continue yer quest, lass," Jack said, grinning lamely.  "It's yer destiny ta find the queen!"  Charlotte looked deep into his eyes for a moment, then got up and left.  Jack turned to Bill.  

"Take care of her, Bill," he said.  "Like ye always have.  And Rebecca, too.  I don' care if ye tell her the truth, that's yer business."  Bill frowned, but nodded and left too.  Finally he faced Isaac.  

"Ye really have everyone goin', don' ye?" he said.  Isaac didn't smile.

"You are, without doubt the strangest pirate I've ever seen," he said.  "Few of our highest ranking soldiers would ever do this."  He held out his hand.  "It was a pleasure."

Jack smiled and took his hand.  "I 'ave one favor to ask."

"Yes?"

"Would you tell the others at LaMonica's caves the news?  I think they'd be less likely to kill you if you were the messanger."  Isaac raised an eyebrow, but agreed.

"Come, Jack Sparrow, we don't have all day!"  Devon shouted.  He lifted his sword higher.  "At the count of ten!  One… two… ten!"  He lifted his sword, but Rebecca ducked and dragged herself and her holders to the dusty, muddy ground.

"Whoa, there!  That's not nice," Jack said, coming from his hiding place.  He walked fearlessly past the guards and helped Rebecca to her feet.  He dusted the mud off her back and walked her toward the hill where Will and Elizabeth were waiting.  "That's not how you treat a lady," he said to the guards.

"Jack, what are you doing?!" Rebecca whispered angrily. 

"When I draw my sword, run to that hill.  Will's waitin' for ye.  Don't look back."  Rebecca didn't have time to argue.

Jack turned around.  "Yer just like Barbosa, Devon," he said.  Devon's face turned an angry red.  Jack grinned.  "You just won' die!"  He drew his sword and pushed Rebecca to the hill.  She ran as fast as she could, with the sound of swords clashing behind her.

"Will!"

"I'm right here, come on!"  The three ran up the hill.  The sound of swords got louder, as all of Devon's reinforcements hopped from their hiding places.  There were sounds of people falling too.  One by one, Jack defeated soldier after soldier.  Finally, he and Devon were the only ones left.

As they came to the top of the hill, Elizabeth stopped.  She watched Jack and Devon face off.  Sparks flew from the swords with intense power, and neither showed any signs of giving up.  

"What does it take to kill you?!" Devon asked angrily.  

"Let's find out!" Jack said, and went for a blow to Devon's head.  But Devon was too quick, and he ducked.  In an instant he flung Jack's sword away from him, leaving him weaponless.

"So what now?" Devon said, smiling.  "You have no where to go."

"Maybe I do," Jack said, and turned to run toward the hill.  But when he turned, he was met by three soldiers.  He turned to his right and there were four more soldiers.  Devon had help.  Jack threw his hands up in the air.  Devon grinned evilly.

"_Now_, you have no where to go."  Jack just glared at him.  

"It doesn't matter," Jack said.  "My friends escaped.  No doubt they will destroy everythin' ye may have brought with you.  You'll die on this rock with me!"  Devon flashed an angry frown.  He closed his eyes for a moment, in concentrated anger.  

"YOU WILL DIE!" he shouted.  Elizabeth watched in shock as Devon lifted his sword and put it right through Jack's chest.  Jack took a quick, gurgling breath of air.

Devon removed his sword and calmly cleaned it as Jack staggered.  Elizabeth was frozen with disbelief.  

Will came back wondering what was taking Elizabeth so long.  When he saw Jack standing in a puddle of his own blood, he almost froze too.  But he broke out of it and hurried a pale Elizabeth along, turning pale himself, before Devon could find them.

Devon sneered.  "Jack, you are a simpleton.  Now I have won, and you have lost.  I'm not a fool.  I shall hunt down your posse, and kill everyone in it, and finally win the Queen's respect."

"You kidnapped her," Jack said weakly.  He spit up a bit of blood as he spoke.

"Oh, that's right," Devon said with mock thought.  "Then I guess I'll just have to kill her too.  Pity."  He smiled.  "She would have been easily manipulated."

"Your despicable," Jack said.  

"Sticks and stones,"  Devon said, and pushed Jack over, who fell easily.  "You two, go out side and signal to the hidden ship."  The two men nodded and left.  "You know Jack, I almost feel sorry for you."  Jack glared at him.  Devon smiled back.  "Almost."

Jack watched them turn and leave.  He hoped in his heart that everyone made it out safe.

"Rebecca…" he muttered.  "I'm sorry I never told ye the truth…"  Then he closed his eyes, and saw no more.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charlotte climbed aboard the Serpent's Tail with Will, Elizabeth and Rebecca not far behind.  Nora was there to meet them.

"Where's Jack and Bill?" she asked.

Elizabeth stood shaking, looking very pale.  "He's… he's gone…" 

"He sacrificed himself to save us," Will said.

"What?  By who?"

"Devon," Char said angrily.  He sadness had evolved to anger and hate, and it was quite visible now.  "Bill's watchin' the Pearl.  Anthin' to report?" 

"Aye," Nora said.  "We found three London ships in the bay next to us.  I was going to send someone to ye, but you were already comin' up."

"Good," Char said.  "Run out the guns."

"What?"

"Run out the guns!" Char repeated angrily.  "I don' want even a splinter to left when we're done.  Understand?"  Nora nodded and commanded the cannons to be loaded.  The Black Pearl got the idea, and joined them.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Char watched the smoke rise from the wreckage from her cabin porthole.  Nothing remained of the ships, just like she had commanded.  Even the oars from the hidden boats on Isla de Muerta were destroyed.  But, this didn't make up for Jack.

Charlotte looked down in her hand.  She had there a little piece of black hair.  She fingered it thoughtfully.  

"You still have that thing?" said a voice.  Char looked up to see Bill frowning down on her.

"You didn' knock," she said.  "Again."

"You know what I'm going to say, so I'm not going to say it," Bill said.  He sat down next to her.

"Y'know, Bill, that's the second time I've lost Jack," she said.  "An' this time he can' come back…" She hung her head, and clutched the piece of hair to her breast.  

"We could use the curse," Bill said.

"Chest is sunk, remember?  Don' tell me you forgot we sunk it in the volcano."

Bill frowned.  "There really isn't anything we can do, is there?"

"Except do what he asked us," Char said.  She stood up.  "We still have to find the queen." 

Bill stood up too.  "Yer right," he said.  "I'll get the Pearl ready."  He left Char standing there.

She looked down at Jack's hair.  "Jack… I'll never forget ye…"  She put the hair in her pocket and left for the helm.

  
AN: NO THIS IS NOT THE END!!  I plan to go to chapter 26 with this.  PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!! ::hides under pirate ship::


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Char: ::singing:: I've got a LOVELY bunch of disclaimers, 

Rebecca: DO DO LOO LOO!

Matthew: There they are, written in a row!

Will: Big ones,

Elizabeth: Small ones,

Bill: Some the size of a page!

Jack: PLAYIN' on your old BANJO!! 

Gibbs: What's a banjo??

Jack: I dunno… It just sounded good at the time!  ::grins::

Anna Maria: Wait a minute!  You're supposed to be dead!

Jack: An' yer not supposed to know that yet!  So we're square!  ::sticks out tongue::

Me: ::sweatdrop:: Bloody children… Ok, Pirates isn't mine… ::dances::

AN: Thanks for not killing me!  ^_^ Keep reading.  Oh, I'm not telling ANYONE if Jack is coming back, Vera-Sabe, cuz I don' wanna give it away.  NO ONE KNOWS!! ::hides:: 

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Nineteen

The H.M.S. Helena cut through the deep sea waters.  They were attempting to return to Port Royal after a trading trip to Britain, but they got caught in a horrid thick fog, and had been lost for nearly a week.

The lieutenant on board, Jeremy, wandered around on deck, giving orders to the crew.  If they could only find their way out, they might get their bearings again.

He paused when he came to a young man in his twenties, working diligently with the sail ropes.  He smiled.

"Norrington, you have worked far more than you need to," Jeremy said to the young man.  "Take a break."

"But there is still so much to do!" Norrington said, pulling more on the ropes.  He was trying to get far in the navy, and was doing all the work he could to prove himself.  He had lived his whole life around boats, as his father owned a ship yard in a port near France, and he was fascinated by them.  He smiled at Jeremy.  "I have to swab the deck, the starboard anchor needs to be polished free of rust, and--"

"Norrington, you will kill yourself with all this work!" Jeremy laughed.  "Take a breather!  That's an order!"

Norrington stopped.  "Aye, lieutenant," he said.  He actually was grateful for a break, but he didn't want the lieutenant to think he wasn't a good worker.  He left what he was doing to another worker, and walked around on deck.

He hadn't got far when he suddenly saw something floating along the side of the ship.  It appeared to be a ship-wrecked man in a life boat.

"Man overboard!" Norrington called, and the lieutenant rushed to see what was over the side of the ship.

"Quick!  Get him aboard!"  With a little effort from four men, they brought the person aboard with all the things there in the boat.

Once on board, they soon discovered this man was really a woman.  Jeremy became suspicious.  The woman regained consciousness.  

"Who are you?!" demanded Jeremy.

"Please, sir," said the woman with a sweet voice.  "My ship was attacked by pirates.  I was the only survivor."

"Then why do you wear the clothes you do?" Jeremy asked, referring to the piratey man clothes she wore.

"They caught me when I was bathing, and I had no other clothes to put on but my husbands," she answered.  "Please, I have had no food or water for nearly three days."

Jeremy hesitated.  "What's your name?"

"Charlotte Reed, sir."

"Charlotte…" Jeremy said thoughtfully.  "I've heard the name before, in Port Royal."

"Yes, I resided there for a time," Charlotte replied.  She was sick of this sweet talk, but if it kept her on board and gave her food and water, she was willing to keep it up.  She had no strength to try and defeat all the men on this ship.

Jeremy nodded.  "All right, then," he said.  "We will keep you aboard."  He turned to one of the workers.  "You, take this woman to the free cabin."  The man nodded and led Charlotte below deck.  Jeremy looked at Norrington, who was appalled by what he saw.

"Norrington, I want you to be in charge of her," Jeremy said.  He tossed him a key.  "Go to my cabin.  On my bed is a small package with a summer dress in it.  It was for my wife, but she will take pity on the girl's misfortune.  Give Charlotte the dress and get her some food."  He looked at the packages on the deck.  "And make sure she gets these things back.  They must have some value to her if she had them with her."

"Aye, sir," Norrington said, and quickly left.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charlotte sat inside the comfortable cabin, but she was not happy.  She sat on the bed and for the first time in her pirate life, she buried her face in her hands and cried.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.  "Miss?" said a voice on the other side.

Charlotte quickly took off the blue bandana and beads in her hair, and put them in a desk drawer.  "Come in," she said.

On the other side of the door was Norrington.  "Miss Reed, I have brought you some decent clothing, a gift from Lieutenant Jeremy," he said, placing the summer dress on the bed.  He turned around to get something else, and Charlotte looked at the dress in disgust.  Norrington turned around and Charlotte saw he had hers and Bills belongings.  She wanted so badly just to snatch them up, but she held back.  Norrington placed the packages on the dresser.

"I have some food and drink on it's way up, miss," he said.

"Thank you…" Charlotte said.  Though she was truly grateful, she was too upset to show it.

Norrington frowned.  "Miss?  Are you ok?"

"Have you ever had to watch your best friend be killed in front of you and not be able to do anything about it?" she said absentmindedly.  

Norrington sat on the bed next to her.  "Miss, I'm so sorry…" he said.  Charlotte looked at him, his face a mask of sincerity.  She smiled sadly.

"What's your name, son?"

"Norrington, miss," he replied.

"Call me Charlotte," she said.  "Or Char.  That's what my closest friends used to call me."

"Ok, then… Char…"  He smiled.  "Look,  I may not be very powerful aboard this ship, but I promise, I will do all I can to make you as comfortable as possible."

"Thank you," Char said.  

The next few days passed on, and Char became good friends with Norrington.  He was quite the gentleman, and soon she felt much better about the previous events.  During this time, however, she made a secret promise to destroy Barbosa as soon as she was able.  Norrington too, made a silent vow to destroy all pirates if possible, to try and make up for the horrid things done to Char.  Soon, the dense fog came up, and they were able to get their bearings back.

When they arrived in Port Royal, the Lieutenant and his wife took pity on Charlotte, and let her stay in their grand mansion until she was able to find a place of her own.  

Within three months time, Charlotte was able to gather a crew, hunt down and recapture the Serpent's Tail.  With her vow in her mind, and the wind in her sails, she set out to find and end Barbosa and avenge her friends.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Dum dee dum dum dum… Ok, ye knows this ain't mine… STOP ASKING!  ::dies::

AN: WHEEEEE! ^_^

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Twenty

Matthew looked at the wall that led to LaMonica's Caves thoughtfully.  He was floating in a life boat with Norrington, and on the other side were Gibbs and Anna Maria.  "It seems to me that we can't get in here."

"Does it now?" Gibbs said angrily.  "That goes without sayin'!  The bloody wall bloody closes it up!"

"Do you think I don't know that?!  I was bein' bloody sarcastic!" Matthew said glaring at Gibbs.  Gibbs just ignored him.

"I think the way in has something to do with these odd indents in the wall," Norrington said, pointing to the sword shaped holes in the stone.

Anna Maria sighed.  "That's just a little bit obvious, Norrington," she said.  "But none of our swords fit!"

"Maybe this one will fit," said a voice.  Everyone turned to see a solemn procession consisting of the Isla de Muerta group.  Will held up a sword, indicating that he was the one who spoke up.  

Matthew raised an eyebrow at the normally hyper crew.  "Why all the sad faces?"  There was not a single smile in the bunch.

"I'll explain later," Char said, leading her boat to the head of the crew.  Will pulled silently up behind her and lifted his sword to the hole.  No sooner had the sword been put near it, did the wall whoosh open, with a small river leading to the center of the cave.

They went forward until they got to a strip of land.  It reminded Rebecca strongly of Isla de Muerta, and that was not comforting.  There were piles of treasure everywhere, though the pools of water were absent.  They pulled the boats ashore, and hopped on the land.

"Now, what was this thing yer plannin' on explainin'," Matthew asked Char.

"An' where's Jack?" asked Anna Maria.

"Well--"  Char was cut off by a loud yell.

"Yaaa!" said the voice, and they came down from a small hill of coins, a blade gleaming in the moonlight.  The sword was aimed directly at Rebecca.

"Rebecca!"  Bill shouted, and ran in front of her.  The flashing sword went straight through Bill's gut.  He fell to the ground, blood pooled out everywhere.  Rebecca stood there in utter shock.

"He, he died for me!" she said, completely unbelieving.  

"Oh, no!" said a new voice.  A woman in a small white dress came running at Bill.  "I've killed an innocent man!"

Suddenly Bill stirred.  He stood up and shook his head.  To the woman's alarm, he swung around to face her, nearly knocking Rebecca out with the sword pointing out of his back.

"For one, miss," he began.  "I ain't an innocent man, I'm a bloody pirate."  He reached behind him, trying to pull the sword out of his back.  "AND," he reached to the left. "Ye didn'…" he reached to the right.  "Kill me.  Bloody…!  Char, if you would be so kind…"

Char sighed and walked over to Bill.  She yanked at the sword.  "Bloody stuck!" she said, jerking it harder.  "Yer bloody strong for a woman.  I can' get it out!"

"Ye better keep tryin'!" Bill said.  "I don' want ta be walkin' around with a bloody sword in me back for eternity!" 

"Let's try this," Char said.  "On the count a three, I'll pull and you run forward." Bill nodded. 

"One… two… THREE!"  Char pulled hard, with Bill running, and he tumbled forward into a patch of moonlight.  You could imagine the look on Rebecca and the woman's faces when they saw the stringy skeleton in front of them.  Bill stood up, and saw the shock on everyone's face.

"What?"

"Bill, yer ribs are showin'…" Char said.

Bill looked down.  "Oh," he said, and walked out of the light.

The woman looked at the group in utter amazment.  "Who are you?"

"The question is," Char said.  "Who are _you_?"

Before the woman could answer, Isaac came running out toward her.  "Your majesty, thank goodness your safe!"  He kneeled before her and kissed her hand.  

"Isaac, how embarrassing!" said the queen.  "Stand up, please!" Isaac instantly obeyed.

Char watched Isaac's moves for a moment, then a smile came over her.  "Now I know why you came with us!  You're in love with the queen!"  She covered her mouth quickly, as if she didn't mean to say that out loud, and Bill whapped her in he head.

Isaac blushed furiously.  The queen looked closely at Isaac.  "Isaac?  Is this true…?"

Isaac hesitated.  "Well…" he said.  "I-I… what I mean t-to say… You see…"

"Isaac," said the queen firmly.  "Tell me the truth."

Isaac blushed again.  "Y-yes…" he said quietly, avoiding the queens glance.

The queen looked shocked for a moment, but then she smiled.  "Isaac…"  He looked up and met her eyes.  She smiled a big smile, then kissed him on the cheek.  "I feel the same way about you…" she whispered.  Isaac grinned what Charlotte would call a very piraty grin, and they embraced.  

"This is all fine and pretty," said Gibbs.  "But Charlotte still didn' tell us what she bloody meant ta tell us."

The queen broke off Isaac's embrace.  "Charlotte?"

Char looked at the queen, and suddenly it all came back as if it were yesterday.  The stories, the crushes, the kindness of the king, the wickedness of the advisor.  She suddenly felt tears of joy come up through her eyes, and she ran toward her old friend.  They hugged and cried, and talked fast about all the happenings since their separation.  Char was happier than she had ever been before.

Bill smiled, happy that Char found her friend.  Gibbs was not so happy.

"What were ye bloody goin' ta _tell_ us?!" he asked exasperated.  Char looked at him, and her face fell.  

She opened her mouth to say something, when suddenly a voice stopped her.

"Well, well, what a pleasant reunion."  Everyone looked up to see the one person no one expected to see ever again.  Devon.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, you wanted a disclaimer, not what rings in my head all the time… Ok, POTC is not mine, nor will be mine, even if my story becomes the bloody sequel.

AN: Heh. heh… I've seen POTC so many times that I start saying 'bloody' without even thinking… YEAH, LOTR TTT COMES OUT ON TUSEDAY!!! I preordered it!  The DVD is gonna be warn out in three days!!  YEAH!!! ^_^

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Twenty-One

"Devon!" Norrington rang out.  He frowned angrily and pulled out his sword.  "You bloody, nasty pirate!  You kidnapped your own queen!"

"I've done far more than that, Commodore," Devon said grinning evilly.  

Char instantly drew her sword and raised it high.  "I should bloody kill you for what you did!"  She dove down on him, blade gleaming. 

But then something surprising happened.  Devon blocked Char with no effort to speak of, and pushed her hard.  She tumbled head over heels until she fell at Norrington's feet.  Everyone stared in shock, but no one was more surprised than Char.

Devon sneered wickedly.  "You think after what happened in Port Royal that I wouldn't be prepared for your fool of an attack?  Surely you have more sense then that!  Oh, wait, I forgot.  You're a bloody pirate."

Norrington helped Char to her feet and Bill ran to her.  "Let me fight him," Bill said.  "I can't die, so there's no harm in it."

"No," Char whispered.  She tried to cool her anger and regain her senses.  "I want the pleasure of endin' him.  He killed Jack, and I won't let him get away with it."  The Commodore raised an eyebrow at her words.  He killed Jack?  No wonder she was so angry.  Char pushed away from Norrington, who reluctantly let her go.

She stood in front of Devon, her composure fully restored.  "In Port Royal, I was just playin' with ye," she said, though no smile showed itself.  She raised her sword.  "This isn't cat-and-mouse anymore.  Now it's for real."

"Sure it is," Devon said.

Char raised her sword higher, and struck several times.  Up, right, down.  Left, right, up.  Spin, slice, thrust.  Devon blocked all the attacks with no problem.

"My turn!"  He copied all of Char's moves, but Char had a much harder time blocking.  He was too quick.  Finally Char had to hop away on to a pile of treasure.  She sat there breathing hard, while Devon just watched her, smiling.

Bill watched the entire thing with a frown.  "Char…" he whispered.  "Take yer time…  Don't rush."

Char stood up slowly.  This wasn't working.  She had to think of another way.  Devon smiled in triumph.  

"Is that all you've got?" he asked.  Char didn't let him get to her.  She stayed calm.

"Watch yerself, Devon," she said.  "Cockiness ne're got anyone anywhere."  She hopped down to the floor, and paused.  An idea evolved in her head.  She struck high.

Devon struck from the right.

She struck low.

Devon struck from the left.

She struck with a spin.

He blocked it from below.

All was going according to plan.  By taking her time, Charlotte was able to learn Devon's fighting strategy.  She silently thanked Bill for teaching her how.

She smiled to herself.  Now she knew exactly how to beat him.

She faked high, and when he struck from the right, she swung to the left and whacked his hand.

"Ow!"  To Devon's surprise, she struck with the broad side of the blade.  She grinned.  Devon looked confused.

Char faked a low strike, and hit him with the broad side again when he struck left.  Again and again, she faked and hit, until she was in complete control of the battle.  Devon paused, breathing hard.  He knew he lost.

In a surprising movement, he turned and ran up one of the piles of treasure.  He didn't get far.  Char chased him up and in one swift move, knocked him to his back and placed the sword at his throat at the bottom of the mound.

"I shouldn't just bloody kill you…" she said with suppressed anger.  She moved her sword closer to his throat.  "I should rip you limb from limb and scatter all the pieces to the corners of the world!"  She raised her sword.

"Wait!"  Char turned to see the queen with a pleading look on her face.  "Please… He has killed enough.  His death won't avenge anything."

"You don't know what he did!"

"He could not have don't something so bad that he needs to be ripped apart!"

"But he did!" Charlotte argued.  Her voice quavered, and two tears fell from her eyes.  "H-he killed Jack!"  She hung her head from the others, and closed her eyes.

Anna Maria and Gibbs could not believe their ears. 

"Jack?  He's… dead?" Gibbs said.  Anna couldn't say anything.

Isaac shook his head, and his face fell.  "Yes… Jack is dead," he said.  "He sacrificed himself to save us."

"It was him…" Rebecca said suddenly.  "Jack was my… father…"

Bill nodded.  "He was…  That's why he did that for ye."  He looked Rebecca in the eye.  "He had 'is own reasons for not tellin' ye."

The queen paused.  "But…" she said.  "If you kill him, you're no better than he is."

"We're bloody pirates, we are no better than he is," Char said.

"Charlotte," said the queen.  "Just do this for me."

Charlotte paused again.  She turned around to see Devon trying to sneak away.  She walked over to him and stopped him with her foot.  "Fine," she said.  "But only 'cause I owe ye."  She turned to her former first mate.  "Matthew, take yer crew and capture the crew of Devon's ship.  Then destroy it.  Anna, you an' Gibbs tie this bloody man up in the roughest ropes you can find.  He ain't here to be comfortable."  The group left to carry out their orders.  Char sat heavily next to Bill and Norrington.

"I never would've sunk that bloody chest if I knew I could use it later…"  She hung her head again, and Norrington put a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

Rebecca looked up.  "What bloody chest?"

"The chest with the cursed gold," Elizabeth said.  "That's what we used to bring Bill back."

"He was supposed to be dead, but the coins brought him back," Will added.  "That's how Barbosa came back, too."

"Brought back to life…?" Rebecca said thoughtfully.  She seemed to be a million miles away.

"Tha's what I bloody said!" Char exclaimed.  "An' without the coins, he is gone for good."

Bill looked thoughtfully at Rebecca.  "I know that look…" he said.  "That's the look Jack got when he had an idea…  What's in yer head?"

"The poem!" Rebecca said all at once.  "The poem of the swords said we could bring someone back from the dead!  Thwart death itself… Remember, Bill?"

"What poem?" Char asked.

"What swords?" Will asked.  He pulled his out of the scabbard.  Elizabeth copied him.  "These ones?"

"Yes, yes!" Rebecca said excitedly.  She pulled hers out, too.  "These magic swords!"

"Bill," Char said looking him in the eye.  "You bloody told me you made these."

"I lied."

"Bloody friends lying…" 

"Only one problem, mate," Bill said, ignoring Char's mumbling.  "We need four swords.  'Ere we only 'ave three."

"Wait…" said the queen.  "Do you need another sword similar to these?"  She looked closely at Will's sword.

"Aye."

"Well," she said.  "I may have solved your problem."  She walked over to the sword that Char dropped after taking it out of Bill's back.  She held it up.

Bill stared in amazement.  "That's the one!"  Char looked up, too.  A slow smile came over her.

"So we have the swords for this bloody poem?"  Bill nodded.  "Well, then, seems we have one more mission before returnin' the queen."

Just then Gibbs, Matthew and Anna Maria returned.  "Work's done, Cap'n," Gibbs said, his voice heavy.  "Where to next?"

Char turned to him all smiles.  "We're takin' Miss Rachel here to Isla de Muerta!" she exclaimed, referring to the queen.  

"Actually, it's Rae," Rachel said.  "I go by Rae."

" 'K then, Rae," Char said.  "It's a sailin' we will go!"


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: Olivia:  This Author does not own this lovely copy righted movie…. I will one day though…

Char: ::after popping up:: Hey! But I wanted to own it!

Olivia: But it's mine!

Char: Is not…

Olivia is too….

Char: Is NOT! ::attacks Olivia::

Olivia: NOO!!! You'll never get my yellow purple moo moos! 

Me: ::sweatdrop:: Ok, in case you were wondering, my friend was bored waiting for us to leave for class and she did my disclaimer.  Bloody friends lying… I'm gonna own the bloody movie! ::grins evilly::

Char and Olivia: YOU ARE NOT!  ::chases around chapter 22::

AN: Hey, Octavia-Snape, welcome to my world!  Just don't touch! ^_^

To respond to your problem with "canae", I have a reason for using that word.  I know that it is not English (like I know Scottish dwarves use it, and Irish leprechauns) and the only reason I use the word is because I think it's cool!  It comes from spending too much time with my sister, who is obsessed with leprechauns (she pretends one lives in her head with a clerechaun) or when I've been spending too much time in Final Fantasy IX where the dwarf-like creatures talk like that.  Thanks for pointing it out, though.  No one else caught it.  I applaud your greatness.  ::salutes with Legolas bow::

AN2: Sorry bout the delay for this chapter.  College life is getting to me.  Plus, I just got LOTR TTT, and I had ta spend 6 hours watching it and all the neat little features that come with it.  I really want the extended version now!  ::begs for version::

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Serpent's Tail led the way with Nora at the helm.  Char and Rae were on deck talking.  Devon had been properly tied up, and four guards were told to watch him.  Char didn't want anymore trouble from him.  Will and Elizabeth were on the Black Pearl, with Norrington and Bill.  Will had his fingers crossed, hoping the swords would carry out their full prophecy.  

"So…" Rae began.  "After you were taken away from the palace, you became friends with Jack?"

"Aye," Char replied, beaming.  "I'd probably be dead now, or a slave to some bloody high society folk."

"That's why you were so upset about his death."

Char paused, and frowned.  "Yes…" she said.  "Jack was one of the few real friends I ever had.  I mean, yeah, there was ol' Bill, and Matthew, me former first mate, but Jack was me friend from the beginnin'.  He's risked so bloody much for me, right from the start.  I've already lost him once before, twice if ye count the incident with Horan's crew.  I don' want to lose 'im again.  He can' just pop up outta no where like the last two times."

Rae paused.  "Char?  I was wondering…" 

"Aye?"

"Um… if this works… I know this will be hard, but… If this works, we you maybe consider spending some time in the palace?  You know, so we can get to know each other again?"

Char thought a moment.  "I don' know…" she said.  "I mean, I've lived my whole life as a pirate.  Might be hard to go back to high society…"

"Please…?"

"I'll think 'bout it."

"Thank you!"  Char beamed at Rae.

"I ne're realized how much I missed ye," she said.  "Everything, all the memories, they've all come back now.  I missed that."

"So did I, Char," Rae replied.  "So did I."


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: What should I do for a disclaimer??  I don't know… Hmm… My brother has a suggestion… Eh, I'm too lazy… ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZz Oh! I know! "Pirates of the Caribbean" is not mine.  Wow, how original… (Oh, how tragic ::stares::) doo DOOOO doo doo doo…

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Twenty-Three

The dark island of Death sat gloomily in the treacherous waters of the sea.  The thick, impenetrable fog that covered it years round, rain or shine, became even thicker and more horrid than before.  Coming within 60 miles of it, you could smell a wretched stink, and feel the evil around it.  Anyone who had ever even heard about it could feel something was wrong.  Animals from Caribbean ports were nervous.  People could sense something terrible had happened.  Even the dead were upset.  More loved-ones ghosts appeared that night than any other night in history.  The island had been disturbed.

The great philosophers of that time would tell you that someone did something so horrible that nature was disrupted.  Something had set it off course.  In a way, someone did do something that vile.  But the cause of natures' nervous, high tension and irregularities was not because it was angry, but because it was grieving.  A good man had suffered a fate he did not deserve, and the whole world was going to pay for it.  

As the Serpent's Tail and the Black Pearl made their way through the dense fog with no problem, other than the heaviness that filled their souls.  They came closer every hour, and soon they would be able to see it.  But first, Bill knew, they had to pass the Island of the Five Swords, as he had so affectionately called it.  He strained to see the shallow shoals that cover the waters around the island, the very shoals that Elizabeth had spied when the Pearl was hot on their trail.  But they were no where to be seen.  Bill secretly wondered if the fog had put them off course.

But then, suddenly, the Island of the Five Swords was in sight.  All the rocks and treacherous coral were gone.  The Island sat there by itself.  Bill looked at it in wonder.  How was that possible?  He did not know.  

He did notice the island though.  It seemed… sad.  In mourning…  It wasn't the evilly inviting place it once was.  It was a sad, dissolute place that showed no evil.  If Bill did not already know what it was, he would have thought it to be a simple, ordinary island, kind of tragic in a way.  Soon, however, the fog made it impossible to see it anymore, and his thoughts strayed from it.

Char looked out over the water to the Island of Death, now so familiar.  It looked absolutely pitiful.  A weak heart would have broken into tears at the sight of it.  Char turned her head from it.  She hoped in her heart of hearts that this would be their last voyage to it on such an errand.  

Will stood on the bow of the ship, fingering his sword nervously.  The sword itself seemed to quiver with anticipation.  It was almost like it could sense its power was to be released.  Elizabeth could feel it, too.  The swords had become so life-like.  Rebecca claimed that she had felt hers vibrate.  Even Queen Rae had the feeling like it was a live being she carried with her, not an inanimate object.  Finally, the two ships made their way to the bay of the Island of Death, and they docked.

"Nora, you and Mark git ta stay here with the helms of the ships," Char instructed.  "The rest of us are going to go to the caves."

"Aye, Cap'n," Nora replied.

The group piled into boats.  Norrington, Will and Elizabeth in one boat, Matthew, Anna Maria and Gibbs in another boat, Char, Isaac, and Rae in a third boat, and Bill and Rebecca accompanied Devon in the last boat.  Devon was very cross about his situation, as he was tied harshly.

"This is hardly fair," he protested.  "What if the boat were to capsize?  What would I do?"

"I reckon ye'd sink to the bottom," Bill said exasperated.  Devon had been causing problems for quite some time.

"And what if the bloody swords don't work?  Then what??"

"If they don't work on Jack, Commodore," Bill began.  "Then they should work wonders on ye, eh?"  That shut Devon up.

Soon the boats touched land, and the procession made their way into the caves.  What they found there was chilling to the bone.

There were no sounds to be heard.  No dripping of water, no wind from the tunnels.  Even the flowing waters in the middle were silenced.  And there, lying in a small pool, was Jack's body.  His tan face was now a ghastly pale white, and the cheery look on his face was all gone-- save for a small smile on his face.  It was a smirk of satisfaction, though an incomplete satisfaction.  Char looked on in sadness.  

Devon sneered.  "A very complete job, wouldn't you say?"

"Shut up," Char said, though she sounded preoccupied.  She turned to the group.  "So, Bill," she said.  "You seem to be the expert on these swords.  Wha' do we do?"

Bill shrugged.  "I 'onestly don' know," he said.  "I ne're really thought 'bout it."

Will thought for a moment.  "What if we-- what?"  He reached down to pull out his sword, but found a surprise instead.  

The sword was vibrating a fast, buzzing kind of vibe, and Will nearly dropped the sword out of shock.  When he moved his hand he saw that the pommel of the hilt was glowing a bright red, and little dust-like specs of light surrounded it.  When he looked at the other three swords, they were all doing similar things.  The vibrating became so strong, they could almost feel in it in the ground below them.

"The swords…" Elizabeth said quietly.  "They're…" She pulled out her sword to look at it more closely.  Without warning the sword flew out of her hand and shot straight up into the air.  Then it came down hard on rock by Jack's body and stuck fast.  Elizabeth watched wide-eyed.  The others shrugged and pulled out their swords.  They did the same as the first one, and formed a square around Jack.

Char was going to ask what to do next, but the four already seemed to know what to do.   They each walked up to their swords and placed their hands behind the glowing pommel.  The pommels responded brightly.  Without thinking, the four sword bearers closed their eyes.  A voice suddenly sprang up, singing a strange and beautiful song in an unknown language.  

"_Ho to no… Naie ma hideo… _

_Kazai wha tata… haca doie…_

_Suon to she… Ma nasie no ohnoie,_

_Hana bi lagai… Yune ta…"_

Bill looked over to see it was Char singing.  She didn't even know what she was singing, just that she was singing it.  Her eyes were wide open, but she didn't see.  They were glazed over with a sliver coating.  Bill turned his attention back to the group.

Silver auras surrounded the outline of the sword bearers and Jack.  The light dust that had circled the swords now surrounded Jack's body, and lifted it from the ground.  It swirled and twirled around Jack, and the room got lighter every second.  Then in a quick move, the dust jolted through the wound in Jack's chest and every bit of white light in that room turned into a dark, crimson red.  Surprisingly, however, the light seemed to be comforting, not threatening.  It gave a sense of total peace.  But the light did not stay long.  After a moment, it heaved away, and all was restored to the way it was before.  The swords lost their light.  The line auras were gone.  Charlotte had stopped singing, and all was silent once more.  But one more thing stayed the same, that was not supposed to.  Jack still lay motionless in the middle of the cave.

Char moved slowly to the lifeless body.  She frowned sadly.  "It didn' work…"  But then something new happened.  Jack groaned, and slowly began to stir.  He sat up and held his head.

"Ooo… headache…" he mumbled.  He stood straight up and saw all eyes on him.  He stared back in confusion.  "What?"

Char grinned.  She started running toward him when suddenly the swords did something unusual.  They pulled themselves out of the slots they sat in, and pointed straight to the middle, their tips touching, forming a star that didn't have a point at its head.  Each sword pointed to its master.  A musical female voice filled the air around them.

_"Now these Missing Wonders have given their gift,_

_Our powers together shall bring forth the fifth!"_

The swords flashed brilliantly, and suddenly a fifth sword did indeed appear.  It fell into its place at the head of the star, and they all saw that this sword did not have a gem in its pommel.  Everyone looked to see who it pointed to.  It was Jack.

_"You have reunited the five swords and the four gems," said the same musical voice as before.  "For that, we are eternally grateful.  For your deed, we grant all the worthy souls here a wish of their heart.  Fare thee well, brave spirits.  You shall not hear from us again, but our magic is always available to you."_  The voice began to fade, but not before it whispered something to the wind.  No one could hear what it said, though, so it was forgotten.  The five sword bearers picked up their swords from the ground and sheathed them.

Norrington stared in wonder.  "I wonder if those wishes really did come true, he asked, no doubt the question on everybody's mind.

"I don' see a difference," Rebecca commented.  

"But look!" Char said, pointing to Isaac.  His normal clothes had been replaced by a magnificent cape and rich garments.  A gold circlet sat atop his head.  He looked very much like royalty.  He moved his hand about on his new clothes, patting it down to make sure it was real.  Suddenly his face looked confused, and he reached into his shirt pocket.  Inside was a parchment with gold lettering.  He read it quietly and his eyes got wide.

"What is it, Isaac?" Rachel asked.  

"This is a letter saying I am the king of a small land off England!" he said.  "I'm a… king?"

Char laughed.  "Waste of a good wish, I say," she said.  "Why would a man like yerself want ta be a bloody king?"

"I didn't," Isaac admitted.  "But I did want to be with Rachel…"

Bill smiled.  "She is a queen," he said.  "An' a queen, can' marry out of her own species.  She must marry royalty."

"That explains it," Norrington said. 

"What other wishes do we have then?" Isaac said.

"Well," said Rachel.  "My wish was to get to know Char better…"

"I s'pose that means I'll be stayin' with ye in yer palace," Char said, smiling.

"I guess…" Rachel said thoughtfully.  

"What was your wish, Char?" Isaac asked.  

Char sighed.  "The only thin' I was thinkin' 'bout was bringin' ol' Jack back," she said.  

"Same as me," Anna Maria pointed out.  Jack grinned.

"Women can' stop thinkin' 'bout me, can ye?" he said.  Both women frowned.  Char smacked Jack on the back of his head, and Anna Maria slapped him in the face.  Jack wheeled back.

"Ow!" he said.  "Now I got two of ye on me."

"You deserved those, Jack," Will said.

"At least ol' Bill's son has a sense of right and wrong," Char said.  She looked Jack in the eye very seriously.  "Don' ever do that again, Jack," she said.  "Promise me."

Jack seemed caught off guard.  "Charlotte--"

"_Promise_ me." 

Jack blinked at her.  She was dead serious.  "I… I promise," he said.  Char didn't smile.

"Good."

Jack paused again, but then grinned.  Suddenly he got another smack on the back of his head.  "Ow!"  He turned to see Rebecca lookin straight at him.  "You're learnin' from Char," he said.

"You deserved that one too," Will said.

"What are you, bloody keepin' count?!" Jack asked.

"Maybe," Will said smiling.

Rebecca stared down Jack.  "I know you're a pirate," she said.  He looked closely at her.  "But that doesn't give you the right to lie to me… _father_." Jack raised an eyebrow at this title, one he had never had before.  Rebecca's face turned from angry to upset.  "Why didn't you _tell_ me?" she asked.  She hung her head.

Jack paused.  "Rebecca…" he said.  "I… I wasn' ready to come to terms with that title meself."  He gently lifted her head by her chin.  "But, now I'm ready."  He grinned.  "Your mother was the only woman I ever loved.  Ever.  An' because o' that, I will keep her promise to you, and look after you.  But…" he said seriously.  "First I have ta learn you in the family business.  Your ship is rather shabby, so I'll have someone whip 'em into shape for ye."

"Who?" Rebecca asked.  Jack looked around, then saw Bill looking around, seeming to be very interested in the ceiling.  

"Why, ol' Bill a course!" he said, pulling Bill into the patch of moonlight he shared with Rebecca.  He wrapped an arm around his neck, as well as his daughters'.  "Who better than me best friend?"  Suddenly he stopped, and looked closely at Bill.  He pulled his arm from Rebecca and took both of Bill's shoulders.  

"Char, do you see what I see?"

Char stared for a moment, then saw it.  "I do!"

"What, is their a bug on my face or somethin'?" Bill asked.  "Are me ribs showin' again??  What?"

"Bill!  You're not a skeleton!"

"What?"

"You're not cursed no more!" 

Bill looked down, and saw he was bathed in moonlight, but he was flesh and skin.  He stared wide-eyed.  "How…?"

"Good wish, Bill," Char said.

"But I didn' wish for this!" Bill protested.  "I was thinkin' 'bout Jack, same as you!"

"Another good wish wasted…" Char muttered.  

"Then how did this happen?" Jack asked.

"Um…" Rebecca said.  "I think I may have had somethin' ta do with that…"

Char glanced at her.  "Why wish this?"

"Mr. Turner saved me life in LaMonica's Caves," she explained.  "I just thought he should be rewarded for that."  Bill smiled.  Jack grinned bigger.

"Good!" Jack said.  "Bill, that makes you Rebecca's official godfather!" 

"What?!"

"Congratulations!"

"But--"

Rebecca grinned, and then Bill knew there was no stopping it.

Char laughed.  But suddenly she looked around.  "Where's Devon?" 

Jack sneered.  "You brought Devon with you?!" he said angrily.  "He threatened my daughter and killed me!  He should be dead!"

"Matthew, he was put with you, where is he?" Char asked.  Matthew shrugged, but looked around.  Suddenly he raised an eyebrow, then reached behind a rock with a grin on his face.  

"Would you believe…?"  From behind the rock, dressed in a full commodore outfit, complete with hat, came a small spider monkey.  It screeched wildly for a second, but then calmed down.  It jumped from Matthew's hands, and ran to Jack.  He climbed up Jack's clothing, and sat comfortably on his shoulder.  There it stayed, and cleaned itself.  Jack laughed.  

"Who came up with this one?" he asked.

"I think I must have," Matthew admitted.  "I wanted something horrible to happen to that bloody man for all he did.  What worse than to live the rest of your life perched on the shoulder of your worst enemy?"

Jack laughed again.  "What should I call him?  Devon?"

"Oh, I think Barbosa would be more appropriate for this situation, don' you?" Char said.

"Indeed," Norrington added.

"Fine, Barbosa it is then." Jack grinned.  "Well, this adventure's over with.  Guess we got ta return everyone to their proper place."  The group got into boat, with Jack at the head, and made their way to the Jack Sparrow's ships.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jack sat at the helm with Gibbs next to him.  Gibbs let Rebecca take over his ship until they returned to Port Royal to get the practice.  He stood proudly next to his friend.

"So," Jack said.  "What did you wish for, Gibbs?" 

"I wished," Gibbs began.  "That we would never have to set foot on that bloody island on such an errand again."

  
AN: THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER!  I have at least one more planned, so stay tuned. ^_^  (I saw POTC again today!  It's me eighth time, matey.)


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: Y'know, I'm bloody tired of doin' these bloody disclaimers!  I've bloody done 54 of them, and they just ain't fun no more!  Bloody…!  I've bloody been readin' Seraphina2's bloody story too bloody much… Bloody…!  Hey, for all you non-dragons out there (that means EVERYBODY, no matter how good you are at pretending) ye should read her story, it's bloody good!  Bloody…!  Bother you, Shaye!  Oh, yeah, Char, Rebecca, Matthew, Nora, and all their various ships are mine!!  The rest isn't, though I'd LOVE to have it! ::hint hint::

AN: We is happy, precious, because we have memorizedes the Pirateses of the Caribbeanes song.  Now we must go to Disneylandes and ride the ride 157 timeses and sing the bloody songes!  ^_^ (Gollum is property of New Line Cinema, and J.R.R. Tolkien.  {Go Tolkien!  Go Tolkien!})

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Search for the Sword of Queen Rae

Chapter Twenty-Four

The six ships of Jack Sparrow were docked at Port Royal, loading provisions need for a six-month journey.  Jack saw no harm in preparing to leave right after dropping off the Queen and her husband-to-be in London.  

Will and Elizabeth gave Jack one final farewell and, with Norrington, they walked up the path that led to their home.

"What did you wish for, Commodore?" Will asked Norrington. 

He sighed.  "I wished for someone who I could love, and who would love me back," he said.  He smiled at Elizabeth.  "Nothing makes my heart soar more than to see Elizabeth happy, but I am lonely.  I want a wife whom I could love like I loved Elizabeth."

"Commodore…" Elizabeth whispered.  

Norrington smiled.  "It will happen one day," he said.  "Until then I have the pleasure of seeing my friends grow up to be happy."  He turned to Will.  "So, Will, what was your wish?"

"It may seem kind of ridiculous, but I basically wished for everyone to live happily ever after," he replied.   "No more fighting cursed men, no more searching for bloody pirates, and definitely no more hunting for queens and swords."  Elizabeth laughed.  

Finally the three found themselves in front of the Governor's house, and they walked up the path.  Inside they found a surprise.  Governor Swann was there, with another man, and a young woman.  He greeted them.  

"Ah, it is good to see you all made it," he said.  "I take the queen is in good health?" 

"She is," Norrington said.  He looked at the young woman, who smiled shyly at him.  She had long brown hair, and wore a beautiful dress.  Norrington turned back to the Governor.  He was about to say Jack was taking her to London, but decided against it with the company they had.  "She is being returned to London.  She is safe, no harm came to her."

"That is good to hear," Governor Swann said.  He turned to his guests.  "Allow me to present Governor Teron, of Port Adria and his daughter, Rosamond."

"Pleased to meet you," Will said, and took the Governor's hand.  Elizabeth curtsied.  Norrington kissed Rosamond's hand.

"The Governor is here for a special reason," Governor Swann said.  "He has offered his winter home to you, Will, as a wedding gift."

"I have no more use for it, as we just got a new home in a small kingdom off London," Teron said.  "It should be suitable for you.  It has two stories, 10 bedrooms, and a small garden in the back."  Will stared wide-eyed, and Elizabeth couldn't believe her ears.

"T-thank you, Governor," Will stuttered.  "But why such a gift?"

"Your father, William Turner, did me a great service a long time ago," Teron said.  "It is because of him that my wife and I live, and that Rosamond sees."

"What?"

"We had been captured by a vicious band of pirates, led by LaMonica himself," Teron explained.  "My daughter was very sick, and her eyes had swollen shut.  My wife was near death.  The farther we got from land, the worse off my family was.  But one day they came upon a rival pirate ship, called the Black Pearl.  The captain's name was Jack Sparrow, and we had all heard stories about him, so we feared him.  We felt that this was the end.

"But surprisingly, LaMonica raised a flag of truce, apparently fearing Jack as well.  Several pirates from the Pearl came aboard LaMonica's ship, including your father, and as payment for leaving them alone, the Pearl pirates took a good deal of treasure aboard.  That was when Bill noticed us.  

"He bargained with LaMonica until finally we were taken aboard the Pearl.  There, my wife was given the best medicine they could offer and lived.  Bill also took an odd salve, and was able to bring down the swelling on Rosamond's eyes, enabling her to see again."

Will raised an eyebrow.  "I did not realize the deeds my father had done."

"He was a good man, Will," Teron said.  "I am eternally in his debt.  I hope this pays for some of it."  Will smiled.  

Teron smiled back.  "Now, gentlemen, I must take my leave of you.  My wife waits for me in Adria.  Governor, I thank you for your hospitality and your willingness to let Rosamond stay with you for a time."

"It is my pleasure," Governor Swann said.  "Farewell!"  Teron bowed and left.  Will grinned, a very piraty grin, and Rosamond led the way to the home that now belonged to the Turners.

  
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Jack oversaw his crew loading the six ships.  No, wait, seven ships, as Rebecca's Silver Sun now joined the group.  Char came and stood next to him.

"Do ya really have ta go to London, Char?" Jack asked.  "It's gonna be quiet without you."

"I told Rachel I would find a way to get to know her better," Char said.  "I'm looking forward to getting' ta know her, but I can' say I'm 'appy 'bout livin' in the palace.  Far too high strung for me."

"Who said anythin' 'bout livin' in the palace?" Rachel said from behind.  Jack turned around in surprise at her dialog, but Char stayed put.  

"When yer with the queen in London, ye have ta stay in the palace," Char said, turning around. "That's pretty much a giv--"  Char gasped.  What she saw before her was Rachel and Isaac, fitted with Char and Matthew's old clothing, looking smug.  Rachel grinned.

"Who said anythin' 'bout goin' ta London?" she said.  She looked at her clothes, a pair of pants, a white shirt with a vest, and green bandana.  Her sword sat at her side.  "Y'know, I think I know now why you wear pants.  It's far more comfortable than the bloody dresses I'm forced to wear."

"You… Wha…?"

"I knew you'd never be happy in the palace," Rachel explained.  "So I decided to just come with you.  Matthew gave us some old clothes."

"But what about England?" Char asked, astonished.  "They'll panic when they've found out yer with us."

"No, they won't," Rachel said.  "I'm sending them a note telling my advisor to take over while I visit Isaac's country."  She smiled.  "That's good for about, oh, six months, wouldn't you say?"

Char laughed.  "Yer a bloody sneaky queen," Char said.  "Fine, I'll let ye aboard.  Nora!"  Nora came up running.  "Take these fine people to Will and Elizabeth's old cabin, and get them settled."

"Aye, cap'n," Nora said, and led a very happy pair to the Serpent's Tail.

Jack grinned.  "She picked a bloody good wish," Jack said.  "This is gonna be _some_ trip!"

Char turned to Jack.  "Speakin' of which, what was your wish?"

Jack smiled to himself.  "I only wanted to hear Emily's voice one last time," he said.  "And the wind whispered it to me."  Jack stared into space for a moment, perfectly content.  Char smiled, and pat Jack on the back.

"Well, Captain," Char said.  "I say it's about time we get goin'!"  The two walked down to their ships, grins on their faces.

  
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Will and Elizabeth wandered their new house.  Norrington had taken Rosamond for a tour of the city, and secretly, Will thought the Commodore's wish was Rosamond.   The thought of wishes made him realize that there was one wish he did not hear.

"Elizabeth," Will began.  "What was your wish?"

Elizabeth froze on the steps she was climbing.  "What?"

"What was your wish?" Will asked again.  "Yours is the only one not said."

Elizabeth paused.  "It doesn't really matter, does it?" she said sweetly.

Will met her eyes.  "No, I suppose not," Will said slowly.  "But I would like to know anyway… are you keeping something from me?"

"No, of course not!" Elizabeth said.  "I just don't think you need to know."

"Elizabeth," Will said firmly.  "Please tell me."

Elizabeth hesitated, but then grinned.  There was no point in keeping from him.  "It was just a silly wish," she said, ascending the staircase again.  "I just wished for a son."  She whistled quietly to herself as she went to go investigate the master bedroom, leaving a shocked and surprised Will standing at the bottom of the stairs.

  
  
AN: THE END!  I might do a sequel to this sequel of the first sequel, but ideas are slim.  I also need ::couSUPPORTgh:: another plot line for the new one.  Anyone have an idea??  Let me know!  PEACE!  ::salutes::


	25. GOOD GOLLY GOSH!

Oh Golly! Oh Gosh! Oh Good Golly Gosh! Can it be true? Is it for real?? Shiver me timbers! It is! It really is!  
  
The famed Author of the Return of the Serpent's Tail is going to do yet ANOTHER sequel! The sequel of the sequel of the first SEQUEL! It's really true! Honest! I'm not lying! Really! Seriously!  
  
Char: Stop bein' a bloody idiot, and just tell them what it is already!  
  
Me: Shut up, Char! I want to savor this moment!  
  
Jack: Why the bloody 'ell would you want ta do that?? I KNOW there's gonna be more than one more sequel.  
  
Me: And how, pray, could you possibly know that?  
  
Rebecca: 'Cause you told yer friend Karen tha' you weren't gonna stop until yer bloody fans got tired of you!  
  
Me: And how do you know they're not gonna be tired of me after this??  
  
Bill: She doesn't.  
  
Me: HA!  
  
Jack: Aw, bloody 'ell. You'll keep writin' them anyway, 'cause you don't have a life.  
  
Me: That's not very nice!  
  
Elizabeth: That's Jack's line!  
  
Me: What do I care?! That what happens when you watch a movie eight times. You start quoting it without knowing.  
  
Will: Or caring, I guess.  
  
Me: Mornie Utulie.  
  
Rachel: Wha.?  
  
Will: It's Elvish for "Darkness has come". Hey! How'd I know that??  
  
Me: I DUNNO! ::whistles::  
  
Norrington: So, are you going to tell everyone what they want to know, or are you just going to twiddle your thumbs for all eternity??  
  
Me: Oh, yeah.. The story. ::ponders::  
  
Gibbs: ::sweardrop:: So??  
  
Me: Um..  
  
Anna Maria: Don' tell me you fergot?!  
  
Me: I didn' ferget. I just can't remember.  
  
Matthew: Dork! ::smacks really hard::  
  
Me: OW! Oh, hey! I remember!  
  
Anna Maria: NOW she remembers.  
  
Me: Yeah, it's gonna be a Three Musketeers crossover!  
  
Everyone including fic readers: WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!  
  
Me: What?? It's not gonna be lameo stupidhead or anything. It's actually gonna be very sad, and at the same time, really coolio! And stuff! Don't get discouraged. It really is gonna be good, not stupid or a totally comedy with lame stuff. It's going to be good. Really. Seriously. Honestly.. Ok, if you don't like the idea let me know, but it's still going up. Email me at IsabelleDudley@aol.com, or IM me at Isabelle Dudley. Yes, the space does go there. Anywaddles. Toodles! ::salutes:: 


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